Chapter 39: The End of The Night

  Soho, New YorkAnne-Firebug

  Sometime before, Cole cshes with Omega Red and X-men.

  Anne hadn't idled; she and Kevin had gone out to celebrate. Things were looking up for them.

  “Do you think he will let me join?” Kevin asked again, making it his third time asking her.

  “He’s not mad, Kevin. If anything, he doesn't care; just be useful and stay out of his way.” She said, shrugging her shoulder.

  She had a job and backer. Who happened to be an infamous viginte who had many people in the underworld talking.

  Anne knew an excellent opportunity when it presented itself. She knew about estimation, and her senses told her Jeremy was an excellent estimate.

  As a cat burgr, Anne had a unique sense for many things.

  She didn't even have to think long and hard when he tossed her the business card.

  She hadn't waited to text him. Jeremy hadn't asked for anything but her loyalty. He told her that if she accepted, her life would change, and if she betrayed him, she would live but regret it for her entire life.

  Something about betraying him scared her. It was instinctual fear and forebode. She had been threatened many times in her work, but his threat did not promise bodily harm; it was entirely different. The air had tightened around her, giving credence to his words.

  The mere thought of selling his information to people who would love to know his identity had caused her to sweat.

  "This is so unreal," Kevin said, interrupting her inner musing.

  Anne turned toward her helper, studying him. He had been a great asset, dumb and strong, more the former than the tter.

  She had hated expining the deal she was offered, significantly when his presence jeopardized the said deal.

  Jeremy York's offer hadn't included him; it also didn't omit him. Honestly, he had been calm about the burly teen. His only hang-up was not to give him an apartment near his.

  She theorized the rich kid didn't mind her bringing people along, but any mistakes would fall on her. She knew of others, even some like him, but was hesitant to extend an offer, unaware of where his thoughts on more runaways were.

  She snorted at the topic. 'Runaways.'

  "It is." She finally responded.

  "He's mad," Kevin said excitedly.

  "He sure is." She nodded, focusing on the news reporter outside of Paradise nightclub.

  Her fist balled. She wished Jeremy had needed her help.

  She knew it was the best decision she could make, especially if she wanted a quick resolution to her predicament.

  She needed Jeremy York more than he needed her, and she had been wracking her brain on how to ingratiate herself deeply with him.

  Her mind had wandered back to earlier. She swallowed. If she had to, she wouldn't mind sleeping with him. She could do worse. She cut her eyes to Kevin, who had his feet on the table. He wouldn't have been so casual if he had seen how he summoned the furniture.

  "So, is it just him? Is he doing this alone? His suit is freaking awesome. Do you think he would give us one?" Kevin fired off excitedly.

  "Iron Man is copying his style as Jeremy was the first armored hero." He said excitedly.

  She groaned and rolled her eyes at the topic.

  Social media had been alight with discussion on the topic.

  "Ironman is a billionaire." She said before she realized so was Cole, technically.

  "He can fly, too." She finished.

  Kevin scoffed. He began typing on the keyboard, and an image appeared on the screen, showing Red Hood standing amongst defeated men, that she was positive were military of some kind and destroyed streets and wrecked vehicles.

  "He did this." Kevin pointed.

  She stared at the screen; the image had been leaked online somehow. She hadn't the foggiest idea who he was after, but whoever it was had a serious problem on their hands.

  A lot of the kids had been curious about him. This was the supposed York heir to a multi-billion dolr conglomerate.

  She recalled waiting outside the matron's office. They all had to meet with her to discuss how they made money. No kid had it scott-free, especially Jeremy; for some reason, they made sure he sold the heavy stuff; she even recalled the times he was high off products.

  She admitted she had once been disgusted. He was an heir to a considerably rge fortune living in an orphanage.

  Her disgust turned into curiosity, and she dug into his life and discovered his remaining family had closed him out.

  Hearing the conversation between him in Mama Carmichael's office had all but confirmed it, and when he had told her off and walked out of the office uncaring and unbothered by threats, her heart had skipped a beat.

  Her phone beeped—another gift from Jeremy. She stood abruptly, her heart pumping at the simple message.

  "If you want a good showing, come with me." She ordered. Kevin did as she expected and rose quickly.

  "Is he still operating? What's the mission."

  "Yes. He said the team will be there tonight." She looked at him as she pressed the elevator.

  Kevin smiled. "He has a team? Oh, man. He's big time."

  What she saw in the basement hadn't even shocked her. She looked at Kevin, his face giddy with excitement. He looked at her and ughed boisterously.

  "Which one is mine?"

  Never did she expect a call to action so sudden, but here she was, blitzing through traffic, Kevin behind her in an armored Hummer.

  It didn't take them long to reach the location, especially with the armored vehicle and the sports bike capabilities and features, systems that she couldn't even wrap her head around.

  Kevin stepped from the hummer in a matte bck one-piece suit that had to be some form of Kevr. His bacva was pulled up, exposing his brown mop he called hair.

  Her suit was simir, a lot tighter, but she loved the support she had for the girls.

  "Sync the contacts with the mainframe. Firestar is overwatch, so follow her directions." She expined, tapping the advance contact she and Kevin had applied at the behest of Jeremy.

  "This is insane, Firebug. I can fucking see my pores and sweat form on the back of my hand." He said incredulously.

  She cursed his naming sense but understood the reasoning behind it. Their identities should remain secret, as close to the chest as possible.

  She zipped her suit up and hopped from the superbike, another item of her young boss.

  Firestar: And you're both synced. Bullseye has already entered. You and…. He doesn't have a code name… You and… Hold on...

  Kevin snickered; the rge teen was overly excited by the messages popping into their vision like a video game.

  "Hold on for wh-." Her mouth cmmed shut as the other member named Firestar materialized before them.

  Cole Stephens-Jason Todd

  He burned.

  His fury stoked the fme.

  His rage became a confgration that poured out from him In a bst of intense heat.

  The X-men reeled backward as the heat washed over them. Initially, his rage had been amped by Jeremy Yorks's unresolved grief. This time, it was at the action of the Professor. He hadn't wanted to talk to Cole, only to subdue him, to breach his mind.

  There was one problem: the system wouldn't allow that. He would die before that occurred. It wasn't a message from the system. It was something he felt in every fiber of his being. Should his control be taken from him, he would lose his life.

  In actuality, Professor X was killing him.

  "Get.. the… fuck… out." He sounded off through clenched teeth.

  'This is for the best. This path-‘

  Cole's cwed hands cmped against his head as he groaned in pain. The pressure was intense. He had to do something before his mind popped like a grape, his mental shielding pressing against his mind instead of breaking.

  He had to make a choice. Here and now, ruining his persona and altering his pns.

  Before the stares of the X-men, he had summoned the armor of his foundational persona. He had expected added protection from attack. His armored suit grew based on his percentage, but he hadn’t anticipated the respite his armor afforded him from mental assault.

  The armor merged with his Haunt persona, and the symbiosis between the two brothers added a third, becoming a trifecta of armor and spirits.

  Red Hood Armor-Symbiosis

  The system prompt fshed before his eyes in a simple script—the innate knowledge formuted inside his mind.

  Had he known the possibility, his earlier fight would have turned out differently. He had grown a lot tonight. And, all of this was a side mission, not even a main story quest, and he had managed to learn more about his foundational persona than ever.

  Regardless of his windfall, he struggled physically, the night events weighing significantly on his inhuman stamina. He had been going like a thoroughbred prized horse for a while. It’s a testament to his ability that he was still in a shape to resist.

  He balled his hand, exerting even more strength than before.

  'Please, Cole, calm down.' Professor X said soothingly.

  His neck prickled as he heard the name being called. He realized the professor had gleaned something from him still.

  ‘Don't speak that name.' He responded, words ced with venom...

  As if answering his growing anger, his armor shifted, tendrils streaked out from the armor, tching onto the cars, anything and everything that could be used as a projectile. He hurled the objects toward the X-men.

  Surprisingly, His attack had been halted by a bored-looking Magneto. Cole sneered. Thankful the master of magnetism couldn’t manipute his armor.

  Who would have guessed the most reasonable would be the master of magnetism and not the pacifist mind reader?

  He stepped forward, growling in irritation, his hands spyed out, cws extending from his armored hands. The fmes continued to grow, burning across the city block; his every step turned the street into sg.

  He had made it a habit to ignore system prompts, but the uncharacteristic bring inside his head had made him believe he was again under psychic attack.

  Had he awakened his mutant ability? He pced aside the thought. He couldn't afford the distraction.

  Bobby Drake sailed down from the building, ice spreading outward as he descended. The ground froze over, like an ice rink, but stopped at the border of his fire.

  He ughed in wonder.

  Thermokinesis was his emerging mutant ability. He could psionically manipute heat, draining it to freeze and increase it to create heat.

  Waves of ice shards broke against him. He weathered the attack, pushing it behind him as another individual nded, sending a bzing fireball at his back. He sneered, raising his hand and gripping at both his attacker's powers.

  He stood between the two titur enemies. Both attacked him. His left hand held the fireball, and his right froze as an ice avanche flowed across the street.

  He melted the ice, switched the porities of the two attackers, and attacked them with ice and fire. His fire was so hot that the young Bobby Drake couldn't drown it out. He pushed his fire forward in another round of bzing configuration.

  He heard the fire controller scream out in pain, his control of fire evaporating. The area where he was became bnketed in ice and snow.

  He pulled more fire toward him, causing another confgration to spin around him, further forcing the young omega back.

  Suddenly, thunder erupted overhead as storm clouds rolled in. He looked up to see Storm descend, and four omegas had come out to fight him. He stood taller, not flinching, ready to summon his arsenal and fight to the end if he had to.

  Bolts struck at him. He caused the fire to balloon outward, burning across the street, buildings, cars, everything burned. Rain summoned by the weather witch pelted at the bzing building uselessly.

  He didn't even register the bst of red energy that bsted through his shield of fmes, sending him sailing across the paved road, his passage scarring the already destroyed street more.

  His armor shifted as the damage was repaired before his eyes. He looked up, vision spotting and exhausted. He ughed out, startling the X-men. He tapped into another aspect of his powers, his first mutant ability.

  His ability unraveled, peeling from the surface of his flesh. Fear manifested in the form of the bat. The Bat had unfurled its leathery wings amongst the fme, growing in size and scope as it seemingly absorbed the fme, looming for all to see.

  Barely conscious, he had still sensed the fear that began to radiate from them. They attempted to kill him. He knew the next time he met X men, he would leave them bloody.

  He stood on wobbly legs. Eyes heavy from exertion, he stared ahead, his eyes shining with violence, fire waffling around him and the creature that emerged amongst the fmes.

  Cyclops was arguing with Jean, and the professor sagged in his chair. Magneto hadn't moved, but the young pyro was slumped at his feet. The master of magnetism was still floating above the building. He looked skyward.

  He also felt Kecillus's approach. The man fell from the sky, wreathed in the red aura of the ntern ring.

  Kaecillus nded amongst the fmes, arms behind his back.

  "My apologies for being te, great one. I'm afraid we must depart from here. Your battle has come to the attention of the mundane w enforcement.

  The man without a sling ring waved his hand and summoned a portal, not the customary portal of the mystic arts but a blood portal of the Red Lantern Corps.

  Cole stared through the portal, the brief respite allowing him to rex somewhat. He knew he would be asleep for a while after this.

  He looked back toward the X-men, putting their faces to memory. He smiled as his eyes nded on Cyclops.

  He stepped through the portal uncontested; the fmes winked out of existence alongside the fiery Bat.

  Iwalkthestars