Ignite [Book Three In The "Fire And Lightning" Series]

Chapter One- Happy Birthday

Wow, it has been a LONG time since I last wrote those first two words^^

November 31, 2016. 24:49.
Gotham City
~~Emma~~

It's dark in Gotham. The gothic-style architecture doesn't do much to help the eerie feeling that sneaks up everybody's spines when the sun sets. In the winter, nighttime seems to sneak up on you so much more quickly. And for some of us, the eerie feeling never leaves.

I haven't been able to shake it for years.

Tonight's been fairly quiet, but that's about to change. It always does.

It's always the quiet ones.

The lost ones.

The odd ones.

The outcasts that turn out to be the most special.

In one way or another, we're all outcasts. Whether we admit it or not. But some of us want to admit it more than anything else.

To my right, Finch grips a pack of birdarangs. On my left, Robin, like me, quietly takes out a small metal rod and presses an almost-invisible button, making the bo staff extend to its full height.

Below, seven men are talking in hushed tones over a large wooden crate. Four are dressed smartly, like businessmen. Extremely slick businessmen. Four representatives of the Lexcorp arms smuggling ring. Usually, Lex Luthor is a classy, respectable billionaire who restricts his business to Metropolis, where Superman takes care of it. But he's not always like that, as the government would like to believe. And he made a big mistake when he stepped into our city.

The other three men are dressed like casual teenagers. Those three are the leaders of one of Gotham's top gangs. Finch recognizes them, and she grins eagerly at the memory from over six years ago. Robin is more relaxed, but I know he's thinking the same as his sister.

"On my signal." I mouth. Nodding, the two take off into the shadows. Even Finch's bright yellow uniform disappears into the darkness.

I take a deep breath. In, out. In, out. This is my first mission in charge since four months ago. I am not gonna mess this up.

The Lexcorp business goon who appears to be in charge, takes a crowbar from one of his colleagues and begins to open the wooden box. When the lid clatters to the ground, There's a flash of green and gold on my right and left and I jump up on top of the railing.

Thankfully, Finch has been paying attention. When my wings appear, a small yellow projectile hits the florescent lamp that provides the only light for this old warehouse. We are plunged into darkness, and the seven shout in confusion as they are showered with tiny pieces of glass.

But the three of us have been trained in the darkness. Night is our home, the shadows are our best friends. While Luthor's men look about wildly for any source of light, we make our move.

Finch takes out the gangsters with relish, knocking them out and tying them up with her grappling cord before they can even begin to comprehend what's going on. The Lexcorp goons prove to be a bit more of a problem to me and Robin. They're trained well, not like his typical hitmen, but trained well.

They're nowhere near our level, though. I knee one in the head on my way down, and Robin knocks the wind out of the other with a well-placed blow from his bo staff, but taking care of those two gave time for their buddies to prepare themselves.

They each hold one of the guns they were about to sell to the gangsters, carefully looking around for strange shadows and aiming the deadly weapons without even caring if they hit their partner.