Sparrow crouched on the roof looking over the city. It was just like any other night. Cars would go by, people walked, and nothing new happened. Same city with the same problems. Sparrow sighed as she watched several men in all black walked into a bank. She knew that she should do something but the truth was that she couldn't do anything. No matter how many times she had stopped crime the local police still sent out wanted reports for the masked vigilante 'The Black Sparrow'. The only problem that Sparrow had with this was that the most famous hero ever was her arch enemy.
"Please be busy for once in your life." The winged girl whispered to no one. She placed her black and red mask over her face then pulled her leather hood over her head. Her short hair blew a little in the wind. Sparrow looked over her costume to make sure that her identity was hidden. She wore a black, skin tight leather outfit with red designs of sparrows. The back of it was fully open to allow her wings and tail poke through. She adjusted her tail feathers a little. She should be able to get this over with quickly. Sparrow spread her wings as she forced two feathers to turn to metal.
"Finally," She said as she pulled the two feathers out. "I won't have to worry about Volt."
Sparrow stood and spread her black wings. The light of the street lamps reflecting off of her red tipped feathers. She jumped into the air and rocketed towards the ground. She opened her wings at the last moment causing her to land on one knee. Sparrow held a metal feather in each hand that was used as daggers.
"If you are trying to rob something you shouldn't dress like a robber." Sparrow said with a small smile. The men turned to look at her through the open door. Only five. She thought then realized something. They are armed. Well, so am I. She forced several more feathers to turn to metal. Sparrow knew that it would take a couple of days for the feathers to regrow but it was worth it.
There was a sudden crackle of ozone in the air, and before Sparrow could react black lightning arced through the air. In the span of a few seconds, all five robbers were unconscious on the ground, and a tall, lithe figure in a black suit with silver lightning bolts stood leaning in the doorway, his eyes flickering with black lightning as he smirked at Sparrow.
"Beat ya again, Feathers." Volt, the cities speedster hero, said with smug arrogance.
"I thought that you could use a break." Sparrow sneered. She folded her arms across her chest. Despite the fact that she knew she was screwed, she never showed any fear. "You know, from wearing those awful pajamas."
Volt's eyes narrowed dangerously, and one of the bank's lights flickered slightly, before returning to normal.
"Says the vigilante Black Sparrow." The speedster growled. "I'm the cities hero; everyone looks up to me. You're just a birdie with no nest to rest in."
"The city is big." Sparrow pointed out. "Why only have one hero taking all the fun?"
"This is my city feathers. Try to take that from me, and I'll put you where they want you." Volt sneered. "Behind bars."
"Then why haven't you done it already if you are such an amazing hero?" she teased as she walked to the center of the road. There was a sudden crackle of electricity, and a blast of lightning slammed into the ground right beside her. Whirling back around, Sparrow found Volt glaring at her, his right hand extended as electricity crackled between his fingers, one of the lights in the bank now dark.
"Let's just say it just crossed my mind, since taking you down before would have been a waste of my time." He said, his voice dangerously low. "Now however, I can see how much good it'd do."
"And what good would it do?" Sparrow laughed as she tore the longest metal feathers from her wings and held them as if they were swords. "I'm no villain to the world. Only one among heroes."
"And I already deal with enough villains as it is. So, I'll take you off the tables." Volt said, before he started walking towards her, black lightning crackling across his suits surface; for some reason, he hadn't gone to super speed yet, which was slightly confusing to Sparrow, as that was his main offensive/defensive weapon. She swung her swords in front of her as a warning. She knew his weakness and he knew hers. Neither of them had ever been able to beat the other. Sparrow knew how this would end but she never underestimated Volt.
"You'll find I've been practicing some since our last fight." Volt said, just as his eyes started glowing black, and then thousands of streams of electricity arced from his body, smashing the glass of light bulbs and causing the entire block to go dark as electricity began to crackle around him, and he grinned at her before vanishing faster then he ever had before, black lightning trailing behind him as he began racing around her in a circle. Sparrow raised an eyebrow in confusion. Sparrow knew all of his tricks. She tried to fly out of the circle but couldn't due to the wind created by Volt. Sparrow was trapped.
"This is a tried and true method!" Volt yelled as he raced around her. "It's called, a vacuum!" And sure enough, his racing around her was sucking all the air out of the area she stood in, while he was still able to keep going. Sparrow started to feel light headed due to the lack of air. She needed a way to stop Volt because if she didn't she would pass out. Sparrow suddenly rammed into the circle where Volt was running and slammed into the hero perfectly causing him to fly backwards.
"I don't plan on being put into jail by my used-to-be role model." Sparrow spat. "You seem so amazing in all of your comics. Always inspiring kids to be whatever they want to be but in reality..." Sparrow sat on her heels to look Volt in the eyes. "You are just plain out pathetic. And by the way, I'm not a villain or a hero. I just do what I know to be right. Hmmm... where did I learn that line from? Oh wait. You."
Volt climbed to his feet, growling, before in a blur of motion, faster than he ever had before, he lashed out, his fist connecting solidly with her chin and throwing her backwards. Sparrow landed hard on her back. She opened her mouth and closed it to make sure that her jaw wasn't broken.
"So I guess that hit you hard." Sparrow said, getting to her feet. She felt a sharp pain in one of her wings. "Good to know that you actually have feelings."
"You should learn to shut up." Volt said as he began running in a tight circle, before a tornado formed where he was running, beginning to move towards her as he started running towards her, still circling as he did so.
"You need to think of something better than a circle of air!" Sparrow yelled at him. She was about to attack when she heard a scream. A couple was walking down the street and were ducking behind their car. Sparrow didn't have time to think when a car came flying out of the tornado right towards the couple. Sparrow turned all of her feathers to metal and leaped in front of the man and woman, shoving the car that they were hiding behind. Sparrow quickly wrapped her wings around them as the car collided against the metal feathers. The car made a horrible crashing noise causing the civilians to shriek with fright. When Sparrow heard the car land on the ground she slowly opened her wings. The car was on fire, the light glinting off of the iron feathers of her wings.
"Go." Sparrow said as she helped the two off of the ground. The woman was slightly shaky. The man nodded at Sparrow as if to say thanks. "Get somewhere safe."
They ran into an alley and off to someplace Sparrow would never know. She turned back to her foe. Volt had stopped running and glared at her. Sparrow then leaped up to stand on top of the flaming car.
"Oh ya! What a big hero you are!" She yelled at Volt. Sparrow lowered her wings, letting the fire lick her black wings as they turned back to normal. "Almost letting two people DIE because you can't stand the fact that there might be another hero BESIDES YOU!"
"You're actually pretty good." Volt admitted as he stopped running, the tornado dying out. "I might consider splitting my turf with you, but only if I think you've earned to protect the city."
"Now you think that I'm ready!?" Sparrow laughed, not believing him fully but letting her guard down. "After a year of you trying to arrest me, NOW you relax!?"
"Girl, I was testing you." Volt said, laughing loudly. "Seriously, you haven't even faced nine-tenths of all my abilities. I've been going easy on you Feathers."
"You are such an-" Sparrow started but before she could finish, she was cut off by the sound of sirens. The cops were on their way. "You really don't have anything better to do? And stop calling me feathers, Sparkles."
Volt raised an eyebrow. "You're a cocky one. I like that. You want a lift out of here?"
Sparrow was shocked by the offer. Was he tricking her? Her wing was obviously boken. Sparrow had three choice; get arrested, try and run, or trust him. None of those pleased her.
"How can I trust that you won't turn me in?" Sparrow asked with a little hint of panic in her voice.
"I just said I was gonna take you and see if you were worthy as one of this cities protectors." Volt said, scoffing. "You think I'd turn you in after I said that?"
"You'd be surprised." Sparrow said then nodded. "Ok. I trust you."
"Then hold on." Volt said as he put a hand on her shoulder, and before she realized it he had taken off. In a matter of seconds, they were on top of one of the cities skyscrapers, looking over it as he released her shoulder. Sparrow gasped for air and dropped onto one knee.
"Warn me next time." She said, breathing hard. "Can I ask you something?"
"Ya." Volt said, leaning against one of the skyscraper antenna. "Shoot."
"Why didn't you just let the police arrest me?" Sparrow asked slowly. She sat against the antenna opposite to him. The vigilante looked down over the city that she was trying to prove herself to. Sparrow knew that the police would never trust her. She didn't blame them. She was a villain.
"I trust me gut Feathers." Volt said, smirking. "And me gut said not to turn you in. It said to give you a chance to prove yourself. Plus, on the upside, if you're my sidekick, you kinda get immunity from the cops."
"Sidekick?" Sparrow laughed. "I'm not very good at working with others."
"Then you'd better learn fast." Volt said, chuckling at his joke.
"You really want a villain as your sidekick?" She asked with doubt. "I wonder what the cops would think about that."
"The cops will have to deal with it." Volt said, pointing at her. "I judge from the heart of a person, not their past."
Sparrow smiled a little and finally looked up at him. She narrowed her eyes. "You would have a big target on your head. Lots of people want me dead. Lots of very bad people. People who you wouldn't want to mess with."
"You know who I've dealt with." Volt said, looking out across the city. "We were both born from the same accident, Sparrow. Most of the villains I've met have been a product of that failed particle accelerator. I just got lucky that I've been able to outsmart them all."
"Not all." Sparrow said softly. "You haven't met everyone. Plus, that explosion left me with no memory so I have had no choice but to work with them. Trust me, you can't win every battle."
"I've dealt with many people with powers, Sparrow." Volt said, raising an arm and watching as lightning crackled across the surface of his suit. "Surely you know some of the ones I've faced and put where they belong."
"But you don't know the ones that I do." Sparrow said, a little annoyed. "You aren't the most powerful man in the world." Sparrow grabbed the necklace that was hidden in her shirt and took it off. She opened the locket the reveal a small ice crystal. "We all have a weakness."
Volt raised an eyebrow, before he raised a hand and a blast of lightning shot into the sky. "Metals a conductor. I could have fried you at any point."
Sparrow nodded slowly. "But that's not my weakness." She said then looked back at the city. "I have increased hearing so certain noises disrupt my powers. I get overwhelmed easily... if that happens then I'm screwed. "
Volt shrugged. "Then work harder to get over it." He grunted, before wincing and putting a hand to the side of his head, where a lightning bolt-shaped earpiece sprung from either side of his mask.
"Yeah, I'm fine... geez, stop yelling!" The speedster snapped. "Yes, I'm with Sparrow. No, I'm not turning her in. I don't care about the money! Dude! If that's all you want me to turn her in for, then the answer's no." He sighed and massaged his temples. Sparrow gave him a weird and shocked look.
"Who is that?" She said as she glared at him. Sparrow adjusted her wings but stopped when a sharp pain hit her. Her wing was broken. "Is this person a cop?"
"No." Volt said, sighing again. "You really think I could do this all by myself? Where do you think the suit came from? Or how I'm able to get to a crime scene so fast as soon as it starts. You do it alone, but I don't."
"Never really thought that you needed help." Sparrow said as she moved into a crouch position to let her wings and tail stretch. Another sharp pain. "I made my suit and I always just sit and wait for something to happen. I mainly wait by the shadier parts of New York."
"Well, I didn't really have a choice." Volt said. "After I got struck by lightning, I was in a coma for a few months. The people who are on my team... they saved my life... they could help you with your wound, if you'd like."
"You got lucky." Sparrow said. "Most of us were just left to die. And yes, that would be great."
"You're in luck." Volt said, smiling. "You know who Dr. Michael N. Watcher is, right?"
"Not really..." Sparrow admitted. She tried to stretch her wings again but failed. "Why?"
"He's the one who built the accelerator." Volt said simply.
"So he's the one who wiped my memory." Sparrow said, glaring. "Isn't he dead?"
"No, just crippled with paralysis from the lower back down." Volt said. "He's a genius scientist. He's helped me figure out a whole lot of my powers."
Sparrow looked up at Volt. "Why would he help me?"
"Because he knows you. He's been keeping tabs on everyone who got powers due to the explosion." Volt said. "Everything you have done, he's kept tabs on."
"Well, that's a little creepy." She laughed. "Sooo... where is this place with the undead-stocker-mad scientist?"
"He's not a mad scientist." Volt said, before he grabbed her by the shoulder and took off, and a few seconds later he skidded to a stop in front of a building Sparrow knew well; the abandoned, supposedly destroyed particle accelerator. Sparrow felt a little dizzy and had to drop on her knee again. After a few moments she looked up at the building.
"Here?" Sparrow said, a little out of breath. "Isn't this place abandoned?"
"The building is, but Dr. Watcher still holds onto it. The insides are completely fine; it was just the accelerator that blew up." Volt explained, pointing to where the attached lab building stood, perfectly unscathed. Sparrow nodded a little. It was hard to see Volt's face in the darkness. The building blocked their view of the moon making it more difficult to see.
"How do we get up to it?" She said, nodding her head towards all of the fences with barbed wire that surrounded the building. "I can't fly over it."
"Just wait." Volt said, before touching his earpiece. "Open the gate."
There was a clanking sound, before the fence gate slowly creaked open, just far enough for them to get through. Volt smirked at her smugly. Sparrow rolled her eyes at him but couldn't help smiling. Her used-to-be enemy was now acting like a friend.
"Ok..." She said. "That's pretty cool."
They walked through the fence and it closed behind them. As he led her through the doors, there was the sound of a wheelchair, and she turned to find a man with jet black hair and wearing what seemed to be normal civilian clothing rolling up to them. His green eyes were fixed on Sparrow.
"Miss Sparrow, it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person." The man said, extending a hand. Sparrow hesitated but then took it.
"Pleasure to meet you as well." Sparrow said, smiling. "You must be Dr. Watcher?"
"I am." Dr. Watcher said. "An advanced degree in genetics, multiple degrees in theoretical science, and a major in chemistry and physics."
"That's very impressive." Sparrow replied. "How long have you known about me?"
"Since you first surfaced in the city." Dr. Watcher said, turning in his chair and wheeling away. "Follow me both of you. The team's especially interested in hearing how your mission went V."
Volt grunted once as he headed after the doctor, not running ahead at super speed. Sparrow followed them both. She was a little nervous to meet this 'team'. Sparrow knew for sure that one of them wanted her arrested despite Volt's and the doctor's opinion.
There was a sudden humming noise, and a portal opened up in front of them. A tall, muscular man stepped out, pulling a pair of strange glasses off his head.
"Volt." He said, and the speedster grunted.
"Void." The speedster said, a sneer evident in his voice. "Sparrow, meet Void. The man who wanted me to turn you in just so he'd get a share of the money so he could actually get a car."
"Oh... Hello." Sparrow said, trying not to sound awkward.
"Come on." Volt said as he led the way into the central room of the lab. Standing against one of the walls was a woman wearing a lab coat, and she straightened up as they entered.
"About time." She snapped. Volt rolled his eyes.
"Sparrow, meet Dr. Veronica Frost." He said, raising a hand and indicating the women. "Our resident medical officer and also a skilled scientist."
"I'm the tech guy." Void said as he sat down in a chair behind a system of computer monitors. "Real name's Nick. Nick Claster."
"Nice to meet you Nick." Sparrow said. She had to admit that she was a little shocked at how open Void was. If Sparrow knew her true name she would have kept it a secret. She frowned for a second then smiled again. The only thing that made Sparrow uneasy was how closely Dr. Frost watched her. At first Sparrow thought Frost was just making sure that she wouldn't try and attack, but then Sparrow realized that Dr. Frost was studying her broken wing.
"I don't exactly have a name but most people just call me Spare." Sparrow said with a shrug. A spasm of pain shot through her wings. Sparrow clenched her jaw until the pain ended.
"She needs medical attention." Volt said, turning to study a screen. "Frost, work on her and do what you can. I'll be keeping an eye on the city." In a flash of lightning and a whirlwind of papers, Volt disappeared, only the paper flying through the air a sign that he had been there.
"Does he always do that?" Sparrow asked jokingly.
"You have no clue." Nick muttered, grabbing a drink on the table under the monitors and taking a sip. "He runs into here, runs out of here. Basically, he runs most of the time."
"Is he the only speedster?" Spare asked as she looked at the professor who was talking with Dr. Frost.
"Well, he's encountered a couple speedsters, but they didn't get their powers from the accelerator." Nick said, leaning back. "They all got it from some serum they made, but it came at a cost. All those other speedsters? Ran so much they disintegrated from to much speed force in their body."
"Wow." Spare said, with a small sigh. "Will that happen to Volt or any of us if we use our powers too much?"
"No. Volt's speed force has bonded with his body." Dr. Frost said, looking over. "And all the other people with powers, their genetic code has been mutated to the point where it's a part of them. They can't get hurt from using it."
"I wouldn't say that you can't get hurt from using it." Sparrow said as she tried to role her wing shoulders. "Every time I take my wings and tail out of dormant they rip the skin from my back. The bones have to line up with each other. It's quite painful actually."
"So... kinda like Wolverine's claws?" Nick asked, and all of a sudden a flash of lightning shot past him before disappearing as he yelped, touching his cheek, which was now red.
"Heard that," Volt's voice suddenly crackled through a speaker. "You left the coms on Nick."
Sparrow laughed so hard that she almost forgot about the pain in her right wing. "I guess you could say that."
"Hey Nick, there's a robbery at the jewelry store." Volt said. "I need eyes on how many men I'm dealing with."
"Got you V." Nick said as he started typing on a computer, before a bunch of camera feeds from inside the store came up. Nick started talking. "You have four armed with rifles. There's another guy, but I'm not certain..."
The man trailed off, staring as the unidentified man turned around, revealing that his eyes were covered by what looked like snow goggles, and in his right hand there was a weird looking gun that glowed with white leds and had a whitish-blue coming off the end.
"Volt! We got Commander Ice in their!" Nick yelled, and a string of curses came through the speakers.
"He needs help!" Sparrow yelled. "Where is the store?"
"I can get you there faster." Nick said as he put on his strange glasses, which lit up as he thrust a fist out, a blast of energy shooting off his hand and turning into a portal. "That'll take you to right outside it."
"Don't engage until I get there!" Volt said through the coms. "I had to go and warn the cops."
"Got it." Sparrow said as she put her hood on. She didn't care that her wing was broken. She knew that she was pushing her metal powers but she didn't have a choice. She stepped through the portal as her wings and tail turned to metal.