They called themselves the Raiders, a team of high tech thieves
that had hit cities all the way up the east coast. They planned for
every contingency, neutralizing security systems, disabling human and
animal guards, and even distracting police forces. However, today they
had picked the New York branch of Star Labs, unaware that the city had a
new resident hero.
"All right," the slightly graying older woman directed the
others forward, her eyes sharp and eager, "I'll deal with the vault
door." She concentrated, the flesh of her arms shifting, becoming two
metallic blades. Razorsharp had started out as a computer hacker before
gaining a metahuman gift in an alien attack. She struck smoothly, her
blade cutting into steel like butter, swiftly striking at the control
circuitry buried within the wall. A hand computer was attached, she
overrode the now damaged security system, and the door creaked open.
"Look at this stuff," one young man murmured, moving forward to
where a weapons module was sitting in a protective case.
Razorsharp gestured for him to stop, thankfully having reverted
her arms to flesh and blood once more. "No extras," she reminded them
calmly, "this is a precision job, people. Open up slot 23, and get the
files 23 and 24, only."
"Got it, boss," the young man in light battle armor murmured. He
had quickly gotten the nickname Harddrive, and it suited him.
Thoughtful, he considered his actions, rarely taking the initiative, and
his memory was remarkable.
"Right," the other man agreed, going to where the files were
racked up in the memory storage modules. He wore optic equipment,
scanners to detect the various security systems, but when he wasn't
working on that he could be a bit flighty, hence his nickname of Random.
As Razorsharp supervised her men she activated her
communications gear. "All clear?" she asked, using the frequency for the
outer guards.
The two young men standing out in the darkness were all dressed
in black, the weapons they hoisted obviously advanced. "We're all
clear," the first agreed, his dark hair falling into his eyes. "It's
been almost too easy lately, boss," he added with a smile.
"Recon," she refereed to him by his codename with a wry kind of
amusement, "quiet is much better than being busted, thank you very much.
So make sure to keep your eyes open, and report in if something
happens."
The man shook his head as Razorsharp disconnected. "I guess
she's right," Recon admitted, "but I got into this for the excitement."
The other guard, a dirty blonde, rolled his eyes.
There was a sudden flash of light, and both men turned, raising
their weapons. "What the hell?" Recon blurted, the gun sagging in his
hands, almost as if it was made of rubber.
"Hey, you wanted excitement," the clearly amused voice came from
the shadows as a hand was raised, a flicker of flame visible.
F-ZAM! The energy bolt struck.
Razorsharp watched as her two comrades retrieved their targets,
then she activated her communicator, "Sentry, Recon, we're moving out."
Silence was her only answer, her eyes widening in alarm. "Button it up,"
she ordered the two men in the vault crisply, "we're moving out."
The three grabbed their stuff and ran out of the vault, only to
freeze in surprise. The young man leaned up casually against the wall,
dressed in a baggy red shirt, gold pants, with gold gloves and red
boots. His shirt bore arcs and circles in orange and white, creating the
impression of an atom's structure, but most oddly instead of hair flames
danced around his head.
"Firestorm," Razorsharp murmured softly.
"Got it in one," Firestorm nodded with a slight smile on his
face, "do you want to make it harder on yourselves, or just give it up?"
"Scrag 'im!" Random brought his gun up and fired, Harddrive
moving to back him up.
Firestorm barely moved, two energy bursts flying from his hands
to parry the two weapons' blasts. In a second the attack fluttered by as
bubbles and flower petals. Firestorm struck out again, and the two guns
sagged, transformed into rubber.
"Wow," Harddrive murmured, eyes wide. He moved forward to try to
fight Firestorm, only to be stopped by Razorsharp's hand.
"No point," she gave him a slight smile, "he's way too much for
us to take." Razorsharp gave Firestorm a thoughtful look, "I suppose you
wouldn't consider accepting a rather hefty bribe in return for letting
us go?"
"Sorry," Firestorm shook his head, "I don't play it that way."
"Thought so," Razorsharp shrugged eloquently as she extended her
arms for the cuffs.
The police arrived a few moments later, signaled by an alarm
that Firestorm deliberately tripped inside the facility. He released the
two outside guards from their steel prisons, and the police were soon
carting all of the Raiders away. Firestorm was about to take off when a
woman's voice cried out to him, "Wait!"
Firestorm turned, a slight frown on his face as he saw the black
haired woman running up to him. "Miss Alexander," he nodded to the
reporter, "fancy meeting you here."
"Don't give me that," she muttered, "and the name is Linda." She
hesitated, then reached out to put her hand on Firestorm's arm, "I
wanted to thank you for saving my life a few weeks back."
Firestorm looked away, mildly embarrassed. "Just doing my job,"
he answered softly.
"It was much more than that," Linda smiled up at him gently. She
took his hand, pressing something in it before she stepped back, "Call
me, we could do dinner or something." With that, the reporter took off
to interview the cops.
Firestorm looked after her oddly, then down at what the woman
had passed to him. The reporter's name was on it, a phone number, and
just after it a cute little heart was drawn on there. If he could have
blushed he would, taking off into the air trailing flame. The city
lights glinted far below as he soared up above the city, his mind
clearly distracted from his flight.
'There goes the idea that this is just a regular crush.'
Firestorm sighed, thinking of the reporter now far behind him.
Cautiously he descended to an empty rooftop, carefully ensuring
that he wasn't being observed. An act of will, and the slim young man
was engulfed in a flare of energy...
.... and a redheaded young woman shook out her hair, the note
still clutched in her hand.
"Did you have a good night, Rebecca?" her brown haired roommate
asked her curiously as she walked into the suite that they shared. She
looked like she was in her late twenties, but somehow she seemed much
older, fitting considering she had been asked to be her roommates
guardian while she was here in New York.
"Well, I got the bad guys Louise," Rebecca Raymond sighed as she
flopped into a chair, "but it seems that reporter is a bit more serious
about me than I thought."
Louise Lincon smiled wryly, "What did she do this time?"
Rebecca made a face and handed over the note, "Here."
Louise bent over from her seat nearby and grabbed at the slip of
paper. She read it and chuckled softly, "The little heart's a nice
touch." She looked over at Rebecca curiously, "Why not just tell her
that Firestorm's really a woman?"
"It's not a bad idea," Rebecca admitted, "but what if she gets
pissed off and decides to report that?" Louise chuckled again and
Rebecca sighed, "You're not taking this very seriously."
"Sorry, the irony of the situation just occurred to me," Louise
smiled slightly, "back when I was Killer Frost, I was trying to kill
Firestorm. Now here I am decades later, listening to the problems of the
second Firestorm."
Rebecca had to smile slightly, "It is pretty funny."
To be continued...
Authors Note: the Firestorm body or 'matrix' has been passed between
several people over the years, so it's not impossible it could pass from
father to daughter. Louise Lincon was the second Killer Frost, a
troubled young woman who fell in love with the villainess Crystal Frost.
When Crystal died Louise transformed herself into a new Killer Frost.
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