By: Faita

“I got you in my sights Shay Edwards,” a young girl said. A small black plane with dark blue markings flew down behind an identical plane with green markings. The two planes were flying in a light brown rocky canyon with a sky above them.

“Just try and keep me there,” a young boy said as the green plane halted, allowing the blue plane to fly quickly underneath it. The girl inside the blue plane looked back out her window at the green plane then pulled back on the wheel in her hands. She was wearing a black jumpsuit with blue markings on it, her short dark brown hair moved as the plane turned up wards to do a full circle and end up behind the blue plane.

“See ya!” she said as she pressed a button on the panel in front of her. Shots fired from her plane and hit the green plane seven times. The plane swerved into the side of the canyon, exploding on contact. The girl smiled as streams of red light filled her view and the canyon disappeared. She closed her eyes with a smile still on her face. When she opened her eyes her saw a black wall in front of her. She was sitting in a big black and blue chair that had a identical chair with green on it connected to the back of it. She lifted her hand to her ear and removed the black and blue device that covered it. She placed it on a tray that was connected to the chair. She quickly got out of the chair and turned to the green chair. She was in a huge one room building with black walls, ceiling, and floor. They were other sets of chairs all around it with other kids sitting in them. Close to each station was a TV screen, a small computer screen and keyboard, and a person sitting on a stool. A boy stood out of the other chair and turned to her. She grinned at him happily as he frowned at her.

“You win this one Danny Jones,” he told her.

“Shay, I win all of them,” she said.

“Wow Danny, Shay almost got you with that last trick but you turned right up and nailed him. I am humble in your presence,” the guy on the stool said.

“Thanks. Shay why can’t you be more like Billy?” Danny asked him. Shay looked at her angrily.

“I’m a sore loser I guess,” he told her as they began to walk away from the station.

“Bye Billy,” Danny said.

“See ya!” Shay said.

“I will tell great stories of the battle that has been fought today to wearing travelers!” Billy shouted after them.

“I wonder why Billy acts like that,” Shay told Danny as they walked through glass doors to the street, already forgetting his loss. They always left the game talk and feeling inside the arcade.

“Acts like what?” Danny asked him.

“Weird,” he answered her. They were walking along one of Gotham’s side streets, not many people over twenty walked these streets. The only thing besides a few run down and abandoned buildings was the arcade. If a kid was looking for a job, they went to the arcade, which they most likely spent most of their child hood in. Shay and Danny spent a lot of time there, in the games, mostly after their parents died. Their families had been friends for years. Their mothers gave birth a week apart from each other, Shay first. When they were 5, Shay and Danny were playing out side of a house and their parents were talking inside, not knowing that the kids had opened the door and walked out. Something in the kitchen went wrong, and burned the house down, parents and all. They were sent to the Gotham Orphanage, but when Danny was going to be adopted and not Shay, they ran away. And now they were 12 years old, living in a small apartment under the pity of a kindly old lady that treated them like they were her grandchildren, some of them any way. They walked for a while in silence, which was unusual for them. They were thinking about separate things and not really knowing where they were walking too. Danny stopped and looked around her, she was now walking on the edge of the curb. Shay noticed that she had stopped and stopped too. He saw he gazing at something over his back. He turned around to see what it was. In front of the both of them stood half of a burned down house. Little wood still had any shape, and all of it was black. Bricks lay in a pile where once stood a wall. They looked upon the rubble with sadness, then they slowing walked away.

“Come on Danny, Jean is waiting for us, we’re late,” Shay said as the two continued walking down the street.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You two are late,” an elderly lady said as the two children sat down in front of a wooden table covered with half burned candles, a huge lace table cloth, and white plates with worn out flowers painted on. The carpet in the small apartment was dark green and worn out. A fireplace lay in the corner of the small living opposite of the entrance. The fireplace mantel was covered in pictures of smiling people. The old woman smiled at the kids as she set plates of food in front of them. She had a warm smile that seemed to reach all the to her curly thinning white hair. The woman sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the table, still smiling.

“So Jean, who in your family are going to tell us about tonight?” Shay asked her. She laughed warmly, which brought a smile to Danny and Shay’s faces.

“I thought I’d talk about my second cousin Arnold,” Jean said.

“Was he the one that always went to work with different color socks on?” Shay asked her.

“No that was her great uncle Dexter. Arnold was the one that died his cat green,” Danny corrected him. When she finished the door in the room behind burst open. A man walked in with dark green hair and white make up with a painted smile on his face.

“Here’s, Jokerz!” he yelled. Danny and Shay stood up quickly, knocking their chairs to the ground.

“Oh my,” Jean said as she stood up and took a step back. The rest of the Jokerz piled in to the small living room. Danny and Shay readied themselves. They could fight well, they were trained in the interactive games, fighting against each other and computer characters. They always had the chance to really defend themselves in this part of the city. True they were small, but the both of them were pretty good together. The Jokerz looked at them and began to laugh hysterically. Shay and Danny always got laughed at, that’s the part that they loved the most.

“You little kids are gonna fight us!?” the leader said.

“They’re gonna hit us with their little dolls,” one of the Jokerz said, causing the rest to laugh again.

“Shall we?” Danny asked Shay.

“Why don’t we deliver the punch line?” Shay said.

“Deliver the punch line, that was good,” the leader said as he received a punch in the jaw. He fell back to the ground stunned. Shay stood above him, smiling.

“You’re not smiling,” Shay said.

“Get the kids!” the leader yelled. The other Jokerz ran towards Shay, but they stopped as plates flew quickly towards them, hitting them in the head, chest, legs, and arms. They yelled as they began to run away, Danny still standing on the table throwing plates at them. When all of the other Jokerz ran away she threw them at the leader still on the ground. He quickly came to his feet and began to run for the door, Danny got him one time good in the back of the head before he was completely out of the apartment. Shay walked over to the door and stuck his head in the hall.

“You get the joke?!” he yelled after them then closed the door. Jean helped Danny off the table and the two of them walked over to Shay. Danny and Shay slapped and shock each other’s hands smiling. Jean bent over and began to pick up the plates off the ground. Danny and Shay bent over to help her.

“Are you two Ok?” Jean asked them as they brought all of the dishes into the kitchen and set them on the counter.

“We’re fine Jean,” Shay said.

“Couldn’t be better, that was kind of fun,” Danny said.

“You two fight entirely to much for children,” Jean said.

“But your cousin Chris started fighting when he was 4,” Danny said.

“Yeah but cousin Chris is now a member in the crazy house,” Shay said.

“That’s because he was a boxer. Got hit a few to many times in the head Shay,” Danny told him while Jean watched them with pride.

“Sometimes I think you know more about my family then I do,” she said smiling.

“We just have good memories,” Danny said.

“What one doesn’t know the other one probably does,” Shay added.

“Sometimes I feel like you’re part of the family, my own grandchildren,” she said as she placed the good dishes in the sink and threw some of the pieces of broken ones in the trash can.

“We know, you’ve told us before,” Shay said.

“Over and over and over and over before,” Danny added. Jean laughed.

“You two are just like a brother and sister,” Jean said.

“But we get along better,” Danny said. Jean laughed again.

“So Jean, tell us about your second cousin Arnold,” Shay said, and Jean began to talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You awake?” Danny's voice whispered. Two beds with blue sheets and pillows on them with two kids inside lay on opposite sides of a small room.

“No,” Shay’s voice said softly.

“Well then wake up, it’s time,” she said as she stepped out of the bed. Shay stood out of the bed too.

“We better hurry or we’ll be late,” Shay said as they headed for the door.

“We better be quiet or we’ll get caught,” Danny said as they silently walked down the hallway towards the stairs that lead to the street. They said nothing till they got outside. It was a cold dark Gotham night as the two children walked down the street with their coats zippered and their hands in their pockets. The street was abandoned and the kids were all alone, walking in and out of dim yellow street lights. They came to the arcade, all the lights were out. They walked around to the back of it, part of the gate that surrounded the windows and entrance was open. Then walked into the arcade, down a dark hallway, and into a small room in the back of the arcade. A man stood in the room next to a VR station. He was a man in his mid fifties, whitish hair and young eyes. The kids walked over to him.

“You’re late,” he told them.

“Have we ever been on time Lenny?” Shay asked. The man smiled.

“No I guess not. Kids today. If my great grandfather knew what the kids would turn out like, he never would have built this arcade,” he said.

“But then you wouldn’t be Lenny Wayan, owner of Wayan Arcade,” Danny told him. He nodded his head in agreement.

“So do you two wanna try this new game or what?” he asked them.

“That’s why we’re here,” Shay said as they threw their coats into the floor and jumped in the chairs, Danny into the blue one and Shay into the green one. They placed the devices their ears. A strand of red light circled in front of their eyes. They closed their eyes, when they opened them they were in a black room and seemed to be floating in space. They were wearing black suits, Danny’s had blue markings and Shay’s had green.

“So Len, what’s the game?” Shay asked.

“Load in and you’ll see, it’s my own creation,” Lenny’s voice told them. Danny and Shay tapped on a button in the middle of their belts. Red rings circled their bodies then left and circled the room then disappeared completely. The two were standing on an old Gotham roof top at night. Danny was dressed in the old Batgirl costume, and Shay was in the old Robin.

“Not bad Len,” Danny said as she looked at her costume and punched the air in front of her with two fists. Shay looked at his costume too, opening all the compartments in his belt and taking some things out and putting them back.

“Did it have to be tights?” Shay asked. Danny grinned.

“Oh they’re you Shay,” she said, he looked at her annoyed.

“What’s the objective?” Shay asked still looking at Danny annoyed.

“The Joker has captured city hall, get him you win the game,” Lenny’s voice told them.

“The Joker? You got everything didn’t you Len?” Danny asked.

“That’s not all,” Lenny said. Red rings raced up and down the air in between Danny and Shay. When they disappeared an image of the old Batman stood there, expressionless and cold.

“Shway,” Shay said as they looked at him.

“Ready?” Lenny’s voice asked them, riddled with happiness at their pleased response.

“Are we ever,” Danny said as she stared at Batman in awe. Hologram or not the classic Batman was impressive. A bright flash of pale light filled the sky then disappeared. Batman blinked then looked at Danny and Shay. “Robin, Batgirl, let’s get to city hall,” he said and began to walk towards the end of them roof. Danny and Shay smiled at each other and followed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny and Shay sat still in the chairs, but in their minds they were fighting villains. Lenny sat on a stool, watching the game play out on a screen with a smile on his face.

“Another great game brought to you by Lenny Wayan,” he said to himself waving his arms in the air. He heard laughing behind him as he slowly turned around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jokerz walked around the small room. Some playing with the equipment, some watching the kids in the chairs, and others guarding the man tied up in the corner. One of the Jokerz pressed a button on the panel. Just as Shay and Danny were about to punch out one of Joker’s guys, their view filled with red streams and they found themselves back in the small room. They placed their ear piece on the tray and turned to look at the panel. Their mouths dropped when they saw the Jokerz. They jumped out of the chairs and prepared themselves to fight, stepping back to back so they could fight any of the Jokerz around the room. Shay and Danny counted seven Jokerz including the leader. The Jokerz laughed at the kids again.

“I remember these kids, they’re the comedians we ran into to earlier,” the leader said.

“Don’t you mean ran away from?” Danny asked him. Some of the Jokerz advanced, but the leader motioned for them to stop, which surprised the Jokerz as much as it did Shay and Danny.

“We’re not alone,” the leader said. Everyone immediately looked around the room, trying to see who was there. Then, suddenly, the two lights hanging from the ceiling went out. They stood there in the dark for maybe two seconds before they heard a yell and someone fall to the ground. Then another, and another, and another. Six in all before the lights turned back on. Six Jokerz lay in pain on the floor, only the leader remained standing. Danny and Shay were unharmed and Lenny was standing in the corner, untied and a little bewildered. The four standing people searched the small room and rafters for the person that did that. Then, a dark red, black, and yellow figure fell from the rafters and landed in front of the Jokerz leader. It grabbed him by his collar and held it closer to it’s face.

“Get out,” she told him with a cold, demanding, frightening voice. The leader shook in her grasp and when she released him he ran quickly from the room, followed by the rest of the Jokerz. The woman turned to Shay and Danny as they looked at her in amazement.

“You Ok?” she asked them. Shay nodded.

“Yeah, we’re fine Blaze,” Danny said nervously. Blaze spread her arms and flaps unfolded from beneath them. Her jet boots fired and she flew out of the room threw a window in the ceiling. Shay, Danny, and Lenny watched her till she disappeared. Then Shay and Danny ran over to Lenny.

“You Ok Len?” Danny asked.

“I haven’t had real fun like that in years!” he yelled. Danny and Shay smiled.

“I imagine how much fun it must be to be a hero, like Blaze,” Shay said. When he said that he and Danny smiled at each other.

“Bye Len,” Shay and Danny said at the same time as they grabbed their coats and ran out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How long ago did we start these?” Danny asked as she pulled out a cardboard box from beneath her bed in the small room the same time Shay pulled one out from beneath his bed.

“About three years ago, when the new Batman showed up,” he told her as they set the boxes on their beds.

“Oh that’s right, we were about 9 then,” Danny said as they opened the boxes and pulled out the black pieces of cloth. They stood side by side and held the top of the black cloth to their shoulders, letting the rest of it fall down to their ankles.

“They need so adjusting though,” Shay said as he studied both cloths. The one he held was all black with a red bird shape with a green outline on the chest with a dark yellow collar and black mask. Danny held a black costume with a small red bat on the chest, and gray and red belt and a black mask with little ears on top.

“You were going to be Batgirl and I was going to be Robin,” Shay told her smiling.

“Then the real new Batgirl came,” Danny complained.

“Yeah but she’s Blaze now,” Shay told her.

“We don’t know that,” she told him.

“Sure we do, just like the original Robin, he became Nightwing,” Shay said.

“We don’t know that either,” she said.

“Maybe you should change the red to blue, so it will be like the last Batgirl,” he told her. She turned to costume so she could see the front of it.

“Maybe, but I don’t want it to much like the last Batgirl’s costume,” she said.

“Then make the gloves gray and the boots blue or something,” Shay told her as he sat down next to the box on his bed, she sat down next to the box on her bed too.

“Should we really do this Shay?” Danny asked him softly.

“Nothing’s stopping us,” he told her.

“We could get hurt, or killed,” she told him sadly.

“What do we have to lose?” he asked her.

“A lot,” she answered him holding the costume to her chest and looking at the floor.

“When people tell other people that it could be worse, they’re talking about being us Dan. We have no money, no education, no family, and we barely have our health. All we have are these costumes and abilities,” he told her.

“What about Jean? We have her,” she told him. He stared at her blankly.

“Not for long we won’t, she doesn’t have that long left Danny,” he told her sadly.

“I know, I have known. I told myself that when we moved here,” she told him. He looked at her sadly.

“Two little lost kids, looking for a place to stay. One nice old lady missing her family and looking for someone to talk to,” he said with a smile crossing his face, Danny smiled too.

“Remember the first month she kept calling me Danielle?” Danny said beginning to laugh slightly.

“You wouldn’t answer her till she called you Danny,” Shay said laughing slightly too.

“Let’s get these things fitting right,” Danny said.

“Yea!” Shay said laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This is unbearably cool!” a boy said. Two kids wearing costumes ran on the roof tops of New Park Row. They jumped from rooftop to roof top quickly side by side.

“Agreed!” Batgirl said as they jumped to another roof top.

“This isn’t that hard! Maybe we should try flying soon!” Robin said, Batgirl nodded. They grinned at each other, when they turned back to the roof in front of them they saw a black figure standing there right in their path. They yelled and stopped running quickly, so quickly they fell to the ground right in front of the figure. The figure had a red bat on his chest and he stared down at them coldly.

“And you are?” he asked them, sending a chill up their spine. The quickly stood up.

“I’m Sh, Robin,” Robin said.

“And I’m Batgirl,” Batgirl said as cold as she could, which wasn’t very. Batman grinned oddly amused.

“No,” he said simply.

“Yes,” Batgirl said, Robin looked at her surprised, so did Batman.

“No,” Batman repeated.

“Yes,” Batgirl said again, and again surprising everyone.

“Yes,” Robin finally agreed, giving a smirk in her direction.

“Fine, but don’t come to me if you need help,” Batman said beginning to walk away.

“We won’t,” Robin said.

“We don’t have anything to lose,” Batgirl added, receiving another smirk from Robin.

“Maybe, but you have a lot to learn,” Batman said and flew off the roof top.

“And that was Batman,” Batgirl said, Robin laughed slightly.

“We’ve meet Blaze and the Batman in one day, not bad,” Robin said.

“Wrong, in one night,” Batgirl said as she turned to look off another side of the roof. Robin turned to see what she was looking at, he saw the sun begin to rise slowly, setting all the roof tops bright colors.

“This is only the beginning,” Batgirl said.