By: Faita

One year after a year after my life began to end. First, my father dies, then, my best friend, my partner leaves. Now I am back where I started, if not less. My name is Terrence McGinnis, but I prefer Terry. I am currently 18 years old, and my life is almost over. If you couldn't tell, my life has not been going well. I am attending Gotham University on a sponsorship from Wayne Powers Enterprises. Major in history, inspired by my missing partner. Reckless student by day, reckless city defender by night. My mentor has tried his best to help me learn that I am what stands between Gotham, and complete destruction. Unfortunately, he is very old, and I might be on my own soon, all alone. I am sitting on the roof of one of the highest buildings in the city, 22 stories up, but I am not timorous, I will tarry. For my father, for my friends, for my partner, who I owe all things to, I will sustain for them. The trouble in this city is that if one has the will to preserve it, one rarely has the courage or strength to continue doing so. So I must, against all else, help the city in till I am old and unable to. A code of the Batman I suppose, protect, and defend as long as your body holds out. I watch the streets below, and the happiness that the people experience is just small dots from here, as it shall always be for me. Wait, there is something, something on the side of the building that I can see clearly, a person. Impossible, what would a person be doing this high up? Time for action. I jumped off of the edge and flew down the side of the building quickly. I stopped and stepped onto a windowsill a story up from the person with not much trouble. The person was now quite definable as a girl. But I can not see her face. She is wearing some type of disguise, attire that completely covered her body from head to toe. It had dark red and gold stripes on it, all dark red on her left arm and leg. She also had a diminutive cape that fell to the middle of her back; it was dark red on the outside and gold on the inside. Dark brown hair was streaming behind her in the breeze. She was just standing there, as if listening to something that was happening inside the apartment. She looked around her, and then she looked up, right at me. I panicked, but only for half a second. She dove off of the windowsill and fell down through the air. I jumped after her, opening my arms to catch her when I would get to her. To my immense surprise, two folds spread out from her arms, they had colors of red, orange, and yellow on them. She flew up, completely passing me. I looked at her in surprise as she was now getting higher then I was, or was I just falling lower, or both. I opened my own flaps and sailed upwards. She flew up to the top of the building and landed, and started running towards the other side. I, instead of landing, flew over her head and made a rather fancy landing right in front of her. She stopped and let out a surprised cry. She tried to punch me in the face, but I caught her hand. She then kicked my in the shin, causing me to release her fist. She then instead of trying to hit me again, yelled at me. "You scared me!" she yelled. "You kicked me!" I yelled back rubbing my sore shin. "Well sorry about that, but you really shouldn't sneak up on me like that, I have good reflexes," she said in a much nicer tone. "Yeah well you really shouldn't kick people," I said as I sat down on the edge of the building. Probably not the smartest thing I ever did, but I don't think she was a criminal. Criminals never make apology for their actions, as she just did. "Who are you?" I asked her as she walked over to me, I figured she knew who I was. "I am Blaze," she said. "Are you a good blaze or a bad blaze?" I asked her in a funny voice, a little humor never hurt anything. She laughed, it was a very engaging laughing, it made me smile anyway. "I'm a good blaze. You would be the prominent Batman I've heard so much about," she said smiling. Again, just as her laugh, her smile was coequally pleasing. "What were you doing on that sill?" I asked her. "I heard that a small drug trader lives in this building and that he was making a trade tonight, so I figured I'd look into it," she explained. "And?" I asked her. I was curious to see hoe she handled it, she seemed to know what she was doing, for a beginner of course. "When you came I was just leaving," she said. I heard alarms and sirens below me, and looked down at the streets, I saw blinking lights of police force cars. "Guess so," I said turning around to face her. I probably should not have looked at the streets, Blaze was gone.

Terry walked down the college hallway by himself. Gotham U. was pretty quiet for a university. Terry moved the backpack on his back so that it wouldn't fall down. He was walking back to his dorm, just having to sit through a two and a half hour lecture on why the sky is blue, he decided he rather walking then ride his hoverboard, which was tucked safely under his arm. He walked around on corner and saw a girl with brown hair that came to the middle of her back, a dark blue skirt that came to her knees, and a lighter blue sleeveless shirt struggling to open a locker. He walked over to her. He knew who she was; she was in one of his classes, the real quiet type, not many friends, really exceptional grades. Her name was Alisa Ryan, but that's really all he knew about her. "Trouble?" he asked her. She jumped a little, probably didn't hear him, he made a hobby of walking softly. She turned to him. "My locker won't open," she told him shyly. "He let me help, these things stick sometimes," he said and she stepped out of the way so he could try. He pushed at the bottom of it and moved the latch, it popped right open. She looked at in surprise and slight annoyance. Then she looked at him with gratitude. She was very pretty; he wondered why she didn't have any friends. "Thank you so much," she said as she pulled some things out of her locker, including a hoverboard with blue and sliver striped on it. "You ride?" he asked her pointing to the hoverboard. She looked down at it. "Yeah a little bit, you do to," she said now noticing the hoverboard in his hands. "Yeah, I got it last year. It's a version 1000," he said. It was his pride and joy. "Mines a version 3200," she said. That was the newest and best kind there was, it could hover circles around his. "Wow, how'd you get it?" he asked now studying the board in her hands. They began to walk down the hall together. "My sister gave it to me for my birthday last month," she said. "How old did you turn?" he asked. "18" she answered. He nodded approvingly. "When's your next class?" he asked her. "In about an hour," she answered looking at her watch, it was on her right wrist instead of her left. "Me too," he answered. "I know, we're in the same class," she laughed. A pleasing laugh, like Blaze's. An idea came into Terry's mind. Maybe Alisa was Blaze; they were the same physical types, right down to the color of their hair. "You wanna grab something to eat?" he asked her. She looked at him. "Sure why not," she said. "I know a little café down the street, the Gotham Delight Café," Terry said. "I know that place," she nodded," Race you," she said and dropped her hoverboard, jumped on it and flew off. "Hey!" Terry yelled and did the same. He flew quickly around trees and people that were walking in the small park next to the university. He was amazed that he actually caught up to her. "I thought that thing could go faster," he yelled so she could her him above the sound on their boards. She looked and him a grinned. "I can," she answered in a yell, and sped off about thirty feet ahead of him. This would be fun. Two new friends in one day, or where they the same friend?