Electric Flame

2.26

"Nightwing, Karma, come in." Yelps for help blared out from our comms as they vibrated on a metallic surface. "Wayne Industries rooftop. Now!"

"Ha! I told you they'd need us eventually," Dick had his 'I told you so' moment, pointing at me like I had cooties or something.

"Just get on the bike and let's go," I grumbled, racing over to the garage portion of the Batcave as I wondered when I may have enough time to sleep. Thankfully, we were already in our suits from the last mission.

Dick zoomed down the boulevard like he had the streets memorized, which he probably did from years of training. We arrived in front of the skyscraper in a matter of minutes, but sometimes even a couple of seconds was too long.

"Can you do that cool thing with the sewer disc that you did last time?" Nightwing asked me, his eyes full of hope and wonder. "We don't have enough time to take the stairs and I may be named after a bird, but I can't fly."

"I'll try," I told him, igniting the stored energy in my veins and transferring them to the nearest plate. 

I shot a bolt of electricity at the circular platform and it began to hover above the ground. I jumped on, smiling at my accomplishment. Dick stared in awe of my powers. 

"Well, are you just going to stand there?" He hopped on beside me, nearly falling off instantly from a lack of balance. "It's just like riding a skateboard, you have to bend your knees," I assisted him, but he sufficed with wrapping his arms around my waist. If anyone were to look at us, they'd think we were some sort of strange crossover between Titanic and The Avengers. "Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, thank you," and we took off, soaring into the sky alongside the never-ending building.

Mechanical whirring scorched all sides, originating from the marching of giant creatures. With long purple bodies, four metallic, black stick-like legs, and many sharp appendages.

"What do we do?" Lucius Fox, a lifetime employee and friend of Wayne Industries, stood between Batman and Martian Manhunter, hiding for protection as if playing Hide and Seek would do anything in a situation like this.

"We fight!" Bruce yelled, losing his calmness as the creatures closed in on us from all directions.

"Unfortunately, Batman, this is not a fight anyone or any planet has ever survived," Manhunter reminded us of certain doom. Sometimes he could be really positive and optimistic; now was not one of those times.

"Nightwing," I squeaked, backing away in fear.

I gained confidence when I felt his back against mine. "I'm right here."

"Don't they look angry?" Lucius questioned as the bug-like machines drew dangerously close.

"Not they. It," the martian informed us of our undefeated opponent, once again being spontaneously pessimistic. "The Joining has many bodies, but only one mind, a mind focused on harvesting your planet's technology and destroying what's left."

Thousands of them swirled overhead.

"Now might be a good time to fly us out of here," Lucius suggested, his voice shaky like the rest of us.

Martian Manhunter stared into the sky, calculating the machines as they got ready to strike. "Not with them up there," he said.

I thought as hard as I could under all of the pressure, trying to find a way to escape. "Well, if you can't go up--" I began as a small ball of yellow energy formed in the center of my left palm, gradually increasing in size by every passing second.

Dick smirked at me, probably having the same idea. "--you go down. Now!"

I threw the sphere at the concrete roofing underneath a crawling bug, creating a not-so-round hole in Bruce's building and killing it instantly. We jumped down. The victimized flooring coincidentally happened to be the ceiling of an elevator chute.