Gotham City, NJ - May 15th
Riley was tired. More tired than he'd ever been before. He felt he'd pass out the second he stopped pushing himself, so he kept going. He didn't have the luxury to slack off, not now at least. The world around him was a cruel place. He'd been able to survive only through luck, and now he had to change that. Luck wouldn't be his best companion anymore, that spot would be reserved for skill.
He honestly didn't know how long he'd been running. The sun was still glaring at him from the sky, so it couldn't have been that long. He'd come up with a new exercise, one that'd improve on his physical capabilities as well as his powers. Strapped to his side was a metal bottle of water, one that wasn't meant for drinking. Instead, it was constantly transitioning from frozen slush to boiling water.
The exercise was helping him use his abilities on the run. Being able to quickly use his powers while moving was a must need for him if he wanted to stay alive. It was also challenging his control. If he pushed too much heat towards the water even the metal container it sat in would melt, ruining the whole exercise.
Finally, as his lungs burned in pain, he came to a stop. The water strapped to its side quickly stopped bubbling, turning into a slush after a few seconds. During his training he'd also discovered that it took more time to freeze things that to heat it up. He chalked it up to his powers being 'heat manipulation' and not 'temperature manipulation'. He could steal the heat from something, setting its temperature to 0, but he couldn't create cold air for the temperature to decrease beyond that.
Still, practicing this side of his powers would come in handy in the future, even if it would never see the efficiency its hotter half did.
Riley drank down as much of the water as he could, finally pulling his phone from his pocket and checking the time; 5:43 PM. He'd ran for 75 minutes, 10 minutes more than the day prior. A smile sprouted on his face. He was making progress swiftly.
His time in Gotham hadn't been nearly what he'd expected it to be. He wasn't even active during the nights anymore, hoping that'd keep both Red Hood and Batman off his back for the time being. His day-time life was spent doing nothing but exercises and thinking of new ways to use his abilities. Of course, he had moments of rest sprinkled in between, but besides that he'd been pushing his body to its limit.
He made his way back to the abandoned warehouse he was using as a base currently. He couldn't help but smile at the irony of it. 'Back to the beginning', he told himself.
Inside he gathered all his belongings. He'd be heading back to Philadelphia tonight to prepare for his birthday party. The thought of the new hero was still in the back of his mind, but he wouldn't let them ruin such a special day for him, especially with everything he had planned.
Everyone of importance in Philadelphia would be at his party. Pretty much all of the big names of the Philadelphia Underworld would be there, as well as a few politicians and local celebrities who didn't care that they would be surrounded by criminals. He was surprised they accepted the invitations, but it was something he'd have to get used to with the lifestyle he was building as Cinder.
Speaking of Cinder, the role created as a mask for his criminal activities had slowly merged into the person he was. There was barely a line between Cinder and Riley when he first started, but now was much different. He wasn't a normal teen anymore, and he'd never be able to become one again. He didn't have the luxury that people like Stephanie had, where they'd be fine if they decided to put the mask down and never pick it back up.
This was his life now, so he had to put his all in it. Riley Faris will always be Cinder, and Cinder will always be a criminal. He was in far too deep to turn back, and he honestly didn't want to anyways. The life as a normal person was never meant for him. It was up to him to determine which side of 'irregular' he'd stand on.
Time was going by in a flash. Just a little less than a year ago he was just a 17 year old doing illegal jobs to provide for himself. Now, he was something much more, and tomorrow would be the testament to that. He'd come to a decision. Tomorrow wouldn't just be his first day of adulthood. No, tomorrow would be the day Cinder and Riley became one once and for all. Tomorrow would be the day he put all of his chips into his current lifestyle.
Even after all the exercise he'd done, he was still seemingly filled with energy. He drew all the heat he could to his hand, his skin quickly glowing orange. He opened and closed his fist multiple times, entranced by the feeling of the heat on his skin. Sparkes flew in the air when he snapped his fingers. A smile quickly grew across his face.
Now, it was time to get back to Philadelphia.
/0/
Philadelphia, PA - May 15th
Mr. Copper was surprised the punching bag hadn't gone flinging with how much strength he put into the punch he'd thrown. Lazuli was getting the best of him, which was making him angry. Adding on the fact that he hated being angry only increased said anger.
It'd only been two days since the vigilante first appeared, so the lack of information about them wasn't surprising. Even then, Mr. Copper hadn't even made a sliver of progress in the past two days, and it was making him furious. Cindercorp was losing business and men and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
Another punch was slung at the punching bag, the sound of flesh hitting leather echoing through the empty gym he was in. He'd spent nearly $500 thousand on information relating to anything that even resembled the new vigilante and had come out with zero information. All he knew was that Lazuli was fresh, very fresh. So fresh in fact that their appearance two days ago might've been the first day they'd even possessed the ability to do what they do.
There was no reports of any high schooler shattering track and weightlifting records in the past 5 years, there were no sightings of anyone running faster than usual to catch a bus, no sighting of anyone lifting way beyond their weight level in a dire situation, nothing.
He was in the exact same situation he was before the vigilante even appeared. The only difference was the fact that the figure causing him so much stress was making much more progress in their endeavors. In just two days, three storage houses had been hit and one of their top drug dealers in the west had gotten captured as well.
The only thing Mr. Copper knew for sure was that the vigilante's work would bring them to one place; Cinder's birthday party. His boss's birthday party had been the talk of the entire Underworld every since the invites had been sent out last week. There was no doubt that the vigilante would've heard of what was happening by now.
Normally, one wouldn't attack a party that housed all the big names of the Underworld. If you made it out alive, which was highly unlikely, you'd have the whole city on your back. Any rational person would steer clear of that gathering, but he could tell that wouldn't be the case here. Lazuli was getting cocky, they were making a big dent on the Underworld and would attack the party to finish things once and for all. In the end, that would be their demise.
He couldn't get too cocky, though. The cockiness of his opponent would be his guide to victory, it'd be very dumb to follow them in their way of thinking. He would be running into Lazuli quicker than he'd expected and hoped, however. When he first targeted the new hero he was under the impression that he had all the time in the world. He would only be in charge of Cindercorp for a few days at most, and then he'd be able to truly focus on the hero.
Instead, he'd run in with the hero three unproductive days later.
A few more punches impacted the punching bag, filling the gym with the sounds of training once more. He wasn't dumb, he knew he'd never match the hero in strength or anything physical. What he had were two things: money and mind. He was sure he was smarter than the hero, and Cindercorp had more than enough money to put the hero down, even with their business slowly dwindling.
He'd come up with a way to end the thorn in his side, even if it was the last thing he'd ever do.
/0/
Philadelphia, PA - May 16th
Even though he'd only been gone for three days, Riley had missed waking up to the sight of the city he'd grown so used to before him. It was always a reminder of the progress that he'd made, and how he'd dug himself out of the slums of Gotham into something greater.
Today was the day, his 18th birthday, and maybe the most important day of his life. Today, he was devoting himself to this lifestyle forever.
He was met by a surprising face as he entered the gym. Exercise had become crucial to his morning ever since he'd run into Red Hood. Staring back at him was none other than his right hand man, Mr. Copper.
"How are you doing, Copper? I'm surprised to see you up so early, especially in the gym." Mr. Copper responded with that businessman-like smile that always seemed to creep him out. The man could definitely give a few Gotham villains a run for their money in a creepiness contest.
"Good morning and happy birthday, Cinder. I'm just down here getting a little extra exercise. Today will be a big day." Riley chuckled.
"You and me both," the two made their way into the gym of his penthouse, Riley heading over towards the treadmills while Mr. Copper made his way towards the weights. "Oh, I was wondering if anything big happened while I was gone? I didn't get to ask you last night since I went straight to sleep when I got home."
The smile Mr. Copper always seemed to have felt even creepier for a few seconds. "Nothing of importance, just trying to pull the thorn that's lodged into our side." Riley was aware of the damage 'Lazuli' had caused since they first attacked him. It was becoming well aware that they'd be the end of Cindercorp if they left them alone for too long. However, right now they weren't ready to go on the offense. They'd just have to let the hero come to them where they'd have a home advantage.
The situation with the new hero was hopefully something that could be put aside right now. A lot happened while he was away in Gotham, and he'd have to spend the early hours of the day fixing the things that were broken.
After 45 minutes of exercise Riley excused himself from the gym. Mr. Copper was still going, lifting what looked to be 250 lbs. when he left. Something was obviously on the man's mind for him to be training like he was, but Riley decided not to pry.
The first problem he'd have to fix today was the problem caused by the arrest of Frank West. Frank was the head dealer of the west side of his territories, and his arrest at the hands of Lazuli had caused a power vacuum in the drug scene. Normally he wouldn't mind the extra competitiveness, especially since almost all the dealers in the area worked for him, but right now was not the time for any major conflicts within the city.
With the new set of eyes focusing in on them, the Underworld couldn't afford to be as reckless as they'd been the past few months. Until the problem was dealt with, they'd have to lay low.
And so, Riley found himself sitting in silence in his motorcycle, slowly making his way towards the meeting place he'd arranged. If he went full speed he could've already been there, but sometimes he liked to take in the scenery of the city. Maybe he'd take a few pictures whenever he got the time.
After about a 30 minute drive, he arrived at the meeting place; A shop called 'Four Letters'. Legally the store was a restaurant, but in actuality it was Frank West's base of operations. The store had an underground drug lab, which was what Frank used to push himself to the head dealer spot.
He was supposed to be meeting with four people: High Note, Dr. Potions, The Chef, and Melvin Black. Riley never knew why three out of the four decided to use a name that'd normally be associated with higher forms of crime, but he just charged it to being extra security.
He was the last one to get to the meeting spot, which saved him the pain of waiting. All four men carried an aura of paranoia that'd sprouted amongst most of the criminals of Philadelphia recently. Riley couldn't say it was uncalled for either. Nobody knew when or who Lazuli would strike next.
"How are you doing, boys?" All of the men turned their attention to the new addition to the room. None verbally answered, instead nodding their head or shrugging. "Obviously you know what this meaning is about. With Frank West gone there's a good amount of empty territory that I'm sure all of you would like to take. I don't blame you, I would've tried to do the same thing if I was in your position. But, I'm here to tell you that you can't make any big moves, at least for now. The chair is hot with Lazuli running around, and I can't have any large conflicts drawing their eye even more. So, until Lazuli is dealt with, I've decided to split the territories amongst you four."
Riley placed a piece of paper onto the table, which the four men quickly walked to. On the paper was a map with a drawing of the new borders. Noticeably, Four Letters didn't fall under anyone's territory. "I know you're wondering why nobody gets Four Letters, the answer is because it'd give whoever I gave it to a big advantage that I didn't want them to have right now. Don't worry, one of you guys will be able to claim it after Lazuli is dealt with. Until then, this is nobodies territory."
The four men stared at eachother for a few seconds before letting go of whatever they were thinking about. Riley was glad the men had cooperated with his new borders without much of a fuss. He'd tried his hardest to split it evenly, but even then he knew the greed and ambition that most criminals had would cause them to want more. Luckily, this meeting didn't lead to any conflicts which was for the best. These four men were his best dealers that he had currently. It would've taken more time than he had currently to replace them.
With that settled, Riley made his way out of the drug lab/restaurant and back onto his motorcycle. Now, all he had to do was finish setting up his birthday.
/0/
"Are you sure you really want to do that? There will be a lot of bad guys, more than even you will be able to easily deal with. I just think there's more risk than reward." Courtney looked at her friend, Natalia. She'd been the voice of reason in her ear the entire time Courtney had been Lazuli. Natalia advised her throughout everything she's achieved till now. Even then, the young teen couldn't help but feel that the girl in front of her was wrong.
"Nat, there will never be an opportunity like this ever again. Yeah, I'm sure to get hurt, but I can take it. Every well known criminal will be at that party. If I beat them, Philadelphia might finally go back to the way it used to be. If I succeed I wouldn't ever have to be Lazuli again. I could put the suit away and continue my life as a normal high school student. Lazuli would fade away with time and nobody will ever know that I was her."
"That's not how it works, Courtney," Natalia raised her voice a little, catching Courtney by surprise. "You know those guys are out there trying to figure out who you - no, who we are. Even if you arrest the big names, someone would surely step in their spot, this time focused on Lazuli more than ever. They won't stop just because a couple of guys got arrested. That's just not how the world works. They'll keep looking until someone finally strikes gold and comes for us."
"So you want me to just sit back and do nothing?" Courtney raised her voice as well, almost to the point of yelling. "That's what allowed it get to this point in the first place. If I decided to do something sooner, the city would've never ended up like this! We wouldn't have to sit and fear, and Millie. Millie would still be ali-"
"Don't say that, Courtney," Natalia's voiced dropped to a near whisper and tears started to roll down her cheeks. "There was nothing we could've done to prevent that. Hell, Courtney, we're only 15. We shouldn't have to be fearing for our lives or for the entire city like you're doing right now. You know it's not good for you. Thinking the way you're thinking right now is what drove Millie to do what she did in the first place, so please calm down and hear me out." Courtney walked over to Natalia and pulled her into a hug.
"It's only a matter of time. The Justice League will notice us sooner or later and send an actual adult to deal with it. We just have to wait. I promise they'll help, so I can't let you go and get yourself killed like you were planning on doing. I know you want to help, but please just listen to me. We can't do anything, not tonight." Tears had started to form inside the young superheroine's eyes as well as Natalia's words hit her.
It was only a matter of time. The Justice League would send someone down any second now, and they'll fix all of this. It has to happen. It will happen. Right?
Character Update
Name: Courtney Mitchell
Alias: Lazuli
Age: 15 (Born July 17th)
Occupation: Teenage Vigilante
Height: 5'5 (165 cm)
Appearance: Chocolate Skin Tone, Braided Black Hair, Dark Brown Eyes
Name: Natalia Quincy
Alias: N/A
Age: 15 (Born June 22nd)
Occupation: Lazuli Support
Height: 5'3 (160 cm)
Appearance: Pale Skin Tone, Straight Blonde Hair, Sky Blue Eyes
Was debating on putting Riley's birthday party in this chapter as well, but ultimately decided against it. Such an important event for Riley deserves a chapter of its own.
Hope you enjoyed the read!
Sincerely, Six.