Stray (OPEN)

[charlie]

The dark street where she once called home looked different. The streets she skateboarded down when she was little, the gutters she would sit when she waited for her mother to come home from work. Not to mention the place that witnessed the worst time in her life. As she walked down the walkpath, she glanced around before coming to the destination. The apartment building that she lived in for years. She couldn't even recognize it, but the memories were begining to come back. It was a scummy slum place but now it was horrible. It hadn't been touched, the burnt remains stayed and the ripped police tapped was barely up. Then, the flashback came.

From when she was was in her room reading a magazine with Batgirl in it, when smelling the thick smoke and eventually hearing her mother scream. A piercing scream which stopped Charlie's heart. As she ran into the living room, her mother hugged herself frightened in the middle of the room, scared beyond repair. Charlie ran up and grabbed her mother by the shoulder's trying to calm her down. It was reverse situation, the mother was supposed to calm the daughter, not the other way around.
''Mom, are you okay?'' Charlie didn't like seeing her mother like this. And then the ceiling in front of the door collapsed, and a ring of fire formed around them.
''Oh my god, Mom. What are we going to do?''.

''You can bounce out Charlie''. Charlie's heart broke when she said it. Charlie could not bounce with anything living and her mother knew that, and before she objected her mother commanded her to do it. ''Don't talk back to me. I love you Charlie, now go''.

Tear stained, Charlie abided her mothers request and bounced out of the building as the gas exploded, and Charlie watched as the building was engulfed and her mother's screamed through the air. And Charlie was left on the pavement crying.

It wasn't a nice place in Charlie's eyes. It actually made her angry, and with tears in her eyes she couldn't bare staying. So turning her head away from the building, she bounced into Central Metropolis's Rooftops. As soon as she appeared, a league of metahumans were jumping rooftops. She knew they were meta as one actually had scales and another wasn't jumping but he was flying. And bags of money stolen from Metro-Bank were in their hands. She could bet they weren't insisting on Charlie coming to spoil the party.

[Deleted]

It never ceases to amaze Hawkgirl how stupid some criminals are. Thinking that they could rob a bank in Superman's city and get away with it? Please! Not that Superman's here right now, but when he isn't you can bet that another hero is. Someone like Hawkgirl, perhaps. If she'd been Superman she would have arrived in time to cut them off at the bank, most likely, but she'd been in Gotham flipping around the police scanner when she heard about the bank robbery and, while she's plenty fast, she's not as fast as the man of steel. Still, she's fast enough to get here before they make a clean get-away.

Especially given the way they're traveling across the rooftops - so easy to see. So easy to cut off. Given her speed, she's sure that it would look to them like she came out of nowhere when she arrives in front of them, hovering momentarily above one of the rooftops as she asks, "Are you going to give up now, or should we do this the fun way?" It hardly matters to her how many of them there are or what kind of powers they have at their disposal - in fact, stopping a bunch of humans without powers is generally far too easy; powers makes it interesting.

Still, she has happened upon criminals here and there that take one look at her and decide to give up, thanks largely to the recognition she's gained after joining the Justice League. She's accustomed to dealing with threats on a much larger scale than them, and perhaps they're clever enough to realize that. But she hopes not - it isn't any fun when they just give up, even though she's giving them the option.

Though she does notice a very young woman also on the rooftop, she doesn't appear to be a part of the group so Hawkgirl doesn't pay her much mind. Though little escapes her attention, do to her sharp eyes, she's in the business of stopping criminals and not questioning why someone is on a roof.

[charlie]

As they continued to run, Charlie knew she couldn't let them go. So dropping the photo of her mother into her pocket the blond was about to charge. ''Hey!''. Galloping across the rooftops, Charlie was not slowing down anytime soon as she ran. Meta human or not, abbusing advantages to do evil was no excuse. Leaping across a gap, she left like a leaping swan as her foot hit the surface and she consisted with her run. Unluckily for her though, these guys were as fast as her. They ran with speed and didn't hold back, which just made it more of a challenge for Charlie. So leaping, her foot hit an AC box and propelled her forwards more into a somersault over a bigger gap.

Maybe she wasn't completely focused though. Being here in the City Of Tomorrow, back where she grew up wasn't a nice reunion for her. So fighting wasn't really favoured by her at the moment, bit she could just let them slide by. But then like a hurricane a flap came from behind her. It sounded like a big bird, and looking she saw that in a way it was. A woman with great white wings was flying. She seemed to be chasing them, probably trying to catch up with her partners. But she wasn't carrying any bags, so she wasn't an immediate problem. So then she bounced.

Appearing in front of them, they skidded to a halt as she glared at them. She felt a bit uncomfortable because every metahuman she had come across was either evil and trying to kill her or psychotic and trying to kill her. It made her question herself. Would her powers drive her insane? She stopped her thoughts on it as a woman opened her mouth and a burst of fire flashed at her. Gasping, she bounced out of the way behind her. A severe front kick hit the middle of her back and the fire-breathing trash bag was sent forwards. Turning, she only had seconds to block a punch and perform a back hand spring out of the way. Landing, she stood ina fighting stance and glared towards them. No, they were nothing like her.

[Deleted]

At nearly the same moment, Hawkgirl's warning falls on deaf ears as one of the front-runners simply turns and takes a leap at her, turning into a tiger in mid-air. Almost as if she was expecting that, Hawkgirl pushes herself just to one side of the tiger's path with a thrust of her wings before slamming a fist hard into his back and causing a growl of pain.

Knowing that it will take a moment for the tiger to get up, she glances at the rest only to see a girl pointing her finger as if miming a gun. An instant later a laser shoots from the girl's finger and Hawkgirl, nearly caught by surprise at that power, manages to lift her mace to block it just in time. "They always choose the fun way," Hawkgirl comments with a smile as she continues to keep her mace between her and the girl's laser finger as she charges with a sudden flap of her wings in that direction. The girl doesn't realize that she's already beaten until it's a moment too late - Hawkgirl is on her in an instant and tosses the girl on the ground, stunning her.

It's then that Hawkgirl has a moment to notice that the metahumans are also fighting the girl she spotted on the rooftop earlier. She almost objects, mostly because the girl looks so young, but a moment of observation tells her that the girl has some skill and Hawkgirl would really rather be beating on these punks instead of trying to save her if she doesn't need it anyway. Still, she'll keep an eye on her for the rest of this; if the girl gets in over her head she can be there practically instantly.

Besides, the tiger has shaken off the blow she gave him, and had come back for round two. This time Hawkgirl avoids his outstretched claws by reaching between them with one of her wings and smacking him hard in the face with it. She follows that up by stepping toward him and delivering a crushing blow to the side of his head, sending him flying - now back in human form - to the other side of the roof. He won't be getting up again quickly this time.

That's when she suddenly elbows the air behind her, causing someone to grunt. "I happen to have excellent hearing, invisible boy," she comments to the teen who suddenly flickers into view, clutching his stomach as he crumples to the ground.

Having so dispatched three of them so quickly, the rest hesitate for a moment as they finally consider that they ought to believe Hawkgirl's reputation as one of the world's toughest heroes. But, then again, they're young enough that bravado will soon overcome their caution. "Is that all you've got? Please say no!" she challenges them, not even slightly tired yet. Though she uses the moment to spare the girl who seems to be fighting with her a glance to see how she's holding up.

[icharliei]

The gleam of her bright red smile shone through the darkness as she waited. And waited and waited and waited. She had often been called impatient, but she didn't like the world. She waited happily for two years in a mental institution, she waited until she got her acceptance to Gotham College and every day she waits until she goes back to her world. He world with her mother, step father and her real dad, Harvey. Though at this moment she couldn't worry about that now because a plan was in motion. A plan to make her mark in the city that did her wrong by ripping off the city that called Gotham a neighbour.

Duela was standing in costume on top of a rooftop. Yes, she was waiting. Waiting for five bags full of green sheets of happiness. She recruited a local gang of metahumans that could get the job done. She didn't care what they could do but as long as they could get the job done. And squinting, she saw them coming from a distance. They leaped over gaps, coming towards her and she couldn't be happier. They say money couldn't buy you happiness, those people were rich. But when she saw a pink light behind them, her smile turned upside down. What was that?

When they got closer it could be seen. A girl, blond curls on her head and leaping over buildings seemed to be trying to stop her crew. Well, good luck with that. Still she had to make sure the plan was fulproof, so she ran and leapt over a few buildings in order to get to them. Looking, she saw not only a teen trying to get in on the action but Hawkgirl. She knew who she was, mase, wings and that outfit. Duela rolled her eyes. But she had to get them out of the way, sadly she was going to have to fight. Darn!

''I will never, ever, trust a girl with wings''. Smiling, she blew in her pipe and sent a ball of sticky fluid towards the Hawkgirl, but it missed and hit the ground, exploding and leaving a sticky pile of goop on the ground. Grunting like a bull, she rolled her eyes but then sent out a bubble that sent electric shocks on contact as the little blonde and a stick one right at Hawkgirl. She just hoped they would hit them and keep them away so she could get the hell out of this 'sticky' situation. If not, blood will be spilt.

[charlie]

Another bad situation; another 'Charlie' situation. These guys really weren't messing around and to be frank it was scary. She didn't know what powers they had under their belts, maybe they were stronger then her. And maybe they were stronger then the angel-like companion kicking ass with her. Who knew, but she was about to find out. Suddenly, a first flew at her face but with a palm she swipped the hit to the side. A small jab to the face stunned them as she spun and swung her foot around behind the meta and knocked them forwards and they fell to the ground. She wasn't aware if it had caused any really damage, she just had to take care of the others.

But as sudden as the meta hit the ground, a vest-wearing brute meta stood in front of her. She nearly got whiplash as she turned towards him and he swung a large stone-club limb at her. She leapt in the air into a large backflip. She was shocked, was that his arm? Flipping away, she landed on a higher building but other meta's had already began jumping up their with her. A girl meta landed next to her, but Charlie quickly spun and kicked her in the back and she flipped forwards and off the building, landing on an AC vent unconscious. A series of punches were sent towards her but she blocked every one. She couldn't even count how many, 12, 13 maybe came at her and she got through unscaved. Luckily she disarmed the meta with a hit up the nose followed by a sidekick into there ribs. Gripping onto his shirt, she swung hard and tossed them off of the building and onto another.

She had only moments to bounce when a blast of purple energy shot at her, but she disappeared in a explosion of pink smoke and reappeared on the first building, crouched on a chimney and looking up at the metahuman. But when it shot again, she flipped otu of the way as the chimney was left in rubble. Someone else had made their presence known, someone who scared her a bit. Turning, she looked and saw her. A purple leather jacket, button in the centre with a green colar and tight purple pants. Her face pure white and lips as read as blood with hair to match. And she wasn't happy towards them. And Charlie couldn't give a ****.

When she first sent a bubble at Hawkgirl, Charlie was a bit scared. The other metahumans were walking up to them and now this clown-girl was ready to cause damage. But when she sent more bubbles, one flew at Charlie faster then she had thought. Charlie went to jump out of the way but the bubble hit her arm, combusting and sending volts of electricity through her body. Charlie screamed but then fell backwards dazed and knowing her hair would now look rediculous. Looking, unable to move at the moment she knew another bubble was going for the woman with wings and wanted to help, but she had to recover for a minute.

[Deleted]

The way Hawkgirl fights, you'd think that she was fearless. But that's not true: actually she finds fear to be exhilarating - makes her feel alive. And fighting off this group, each with their unknown ability, is a challenge - and challenges are fun. Which makes this all much more enjoyable than thwarting a normal bank robbery; that's just a little too easy.

As she observes the girl fighting with her for a moment, Hawkgirl has to smile. She has some skill - unrefined skill, but skill nevertheless. Always nice to see someone who knows how to fight on this planet full of weaklings - especially since she doesn't seem to be a fan of bank robbers.

But her attention is quickly pulled away when one of the group hesitating around her suddenly flies at her - literally. Which really isn't the best tactic to use against someone known to outmaneuver people like Superman and Wonder Woman; Hawkgirl easily twists out of the way and grabs the girl by the shirt and throws her down with stunning force onto the rooftop - actually purposefully weakening the blow to ensure that the young woman isn't killed.

It isn't until then that she notices that someone else has joined the party as a ball of goo flies roughly in her direction but, seeing that it will miss, Hawkgirl's attention turns to its cause. She's not surprised or even phased by the young woman's appearance: it's not like she's not used to people wearing odd colors. But that missed shot is all the warning she needs to not be caught unprepared for the bubble sent her way; she hits it with her mace like a baseball player hitting a ball, allowing the Nth metal to absorb the electric jolt. Her mace uses electricity itself, so naturally neither it or the one holding it is harmed by the charge.

Still, Hawkgirl is irritated enough by the attack to want to return it in kind. But then, like all good superheroes she has her priorities in order - rather than charging at Duela, she charges over to where Charlie's been knocked down. She'd be remiss if she didn't protect someone fighting for her own side instead of leaving the girl stunned and surrounded by metahumans so that she could go after the one who did it. Waving her mace menacingly around to keep the remaining metahumans out of her way, she half-runs, half-flies until she's standing next to the girl - suddenly, she seems twice as ferocious with someone to protect. "Are you going to be okay?" she asks the girl, though she keeps her eyes on her enemies, especially Duela since she now seems to be the ringleader, and stands ready for anything.