🥀 CHAPTER ONE | ONYX 🥀

THE DAY THAT SUPERMAN DIED, THE WORLD WENT TO SHIT. The crime in the cities increased day by day. People barely went out into the streets out of fear of being killed or robbed at gunpoint. The homeless crowded the sidewalks as people walked by without any pity. Nobody cared anymore since the beacon of hope was gone for good.

Everyone mourned him for what felt like years. The people prayed that it was all a dream and that he was alive, but not even prayers helped. The only protection we had was Batman, and even to me, he wouldn't have that same legacy.

The people needed a new hero, they needed someone to defend those who couldn't. That was me. Of course, I wasn't going to live the same legacy as Superman but it was something. Even when Superman was alive, it was all I wanted to do. The thing was, I wasn't a hero or a villain. I was a vigilante.

Nobody likes vigilantes. The only one they like is Batman. While the others were hunted by the police when in crime-fighting mode, but some vigilantes were under the radar, just not me. I wanted people to know me, I wanted them to know I was there, I didn't want my actions going unknown. I wanted to be known.

That's when I started to become who I am now. I made myself a suit, like any other vigilante. I wore black boots and a black mask. The only color that stood out was the silver whip and the silver snake bracelets encircled around my wrists. There was a built tied around my waist with a gun and some other things that could come in handy in other situations. 

•••

BRUCE SAT NEAR HIS COMPUTER WITH DIANA LOOMING OVER HIM. The two were looking at pictures of people that Bruce wanted to recruit. Diana stood with her arms folded across her chest and her head cocked to the side.

Diana saw a picture of a woman—about the same age as Barry Allen, on the screen. The girl had jet-black hair and dark brown eyes. The pictures of her were from her high school yearbook, drivers license, and pictures from security footage of different stores.

"Who is she?" Diana asked pointing to the picture of the girl with a puzzled look on her face.

Bruce let out a sigh, "Her name is Esperanza Flores or otherwise known as Onyx," Bruce tapped a key on the keyboard and new images popped up. It was the same girl except her hair was in a slick ponytail, she wore a black skintight suit with matching shoes, she also wore a black mask with her outfit, in hand, she held a whip and on both her wrists she had a snake bracelet encircled around her wrists.

"Onyx?" Diana asked.

"She started crime-fighting around three years ago when her parents were murdered," Bruce started, "She came to the United States when she was eight years old from Mexico,"

Diana cocked her head to the side, "Did she find who killed her parents?"

"Yeah, she put them in jail as Onyx," Bruce answered.

"That's interesting," Diana observed, "Most would've kill them,"

"That's why we need her," Bruce turned to look at Diana, he got from his chair slowly, "I think she could bring something,"

Diana licked her lips, "You're sure about her?"

"I am," he answered, "I've seen her fight too, she's good."

"Do you want to talk to her or should I?" Diana asked.

"I will," he answered, "We both got something in common."

"That you both wear black and fight crime?" Diana asked,

"No," he started, "Because both our parents are dead."

Diana pursed her lips as Bruce grabbed his jacket to go.

•••

WHEN I SAW THAT THE CLOCK READ 9:39 PM, I JUMPED OUT OF MY BED QUICKLY. I knelt down under my bed and pulled out a large case. I opened the case and took out the suit and whip, along with the onyx boots. I put on the suit, struggling to put it on since it was tight. I put on the boots and zipped it up all the way to my calf. I put the black belt around my waist and secured the silver whip to it. I ran over to the bathroom and put my hair in a high slick ponytail. 

I opened the medicine cabinet and found a small bright pink purse. I grabbed it quickly and zipped it open. I grabbed a small red lipstick and applied it to my plump lips. I put the cap on the lipstick and then put the mask over my eyes. I put on the matching gloves and snake bracelets. 

As I walked towards the window, I stopped and looked at myself in the mirror. I took in a deep breath, this is who I am. I walked over to the window and opened it slightly to make sure no one was there. When I saw no one, I turned off the lights of my house and opened the windows. 

I crawled out slowly and closed the window. I looked up at the night sky and saw a few stars twinkling. The street lamps were on and a few people walked on the street below. There were couples holding hands and teenagers laughing and joking. 

Since I lived on the fifth floor of the apartment building, I had to make my way carefully to the ground. There were black stairs on the outside of the building with a balcony on each floor. It was the perks of having a black suit, no one would be able to see you, they would just think that their eyesight is playing with them. 

I walked through the alleyway of the buildings, slowly. It was quiet despite the distant chatter of civilians. You hear the raindrops falling off the buildings making its way to a puddle on the ground. As I walked, I heard the sound of boots on the ground and I stopped when I heard the chatter of someone else. I quickly leaned against the wall of the alleyway, no one would be able to see me due to the darkness of my suit. 

A group of four men walked into the alley, one of them was breathing heavily and he had his hands raised up in the air as the other three push him against the wall. The man's lip quivered as they pushed him. The other three made him face them. 

One of the men stood in the middle, he must have been their leader, "Listen, it's been a week and you owe us the money!" 

"I-I-I know, I've been trying to get it. T-Trust me, it's just that-" 

"Who told you to speak?" One of the men asked, his brows were furrowed and his arms were folded against his chest. 

"What's been the hold up?" The other one asked. 

"M-My kid, she's...sick and she n-needs medicine," the man answered, "I'll p-pay you back when I have the money." 

The man in the middle scoffed, "You borrowed money and we want it back," he started, he walked over to the man, "Do you know what happens to people who don't pay us back?" 

The man gulped and his eyes were swelling up, "Ricky, tell me what do we do to people who don't pay us back?" the leader asked. 

One of the men walked closer, which I assumed was Ricky, "We kill them," 

The man's eyes quickly widened, "No, no, please, please!" he begged, "My d-daughter is sick, she needs her dad!" 

"Kneel!" one of them yelled, the man followed his orders obediently, "Please." the man murmured. His eyes were red and puffy and tears started cascading down his cheeks as he put his hands behind his head. The leader of the three men pulled out a gun. This was my time. 

I stood up and walked towards the group, "Hey!" All their heads turned and the guy holding the gun aimed it at me, "Now, now, I didn't do anything." 

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, "I won't hesitate to shoot," 

"I know you won't," I started, "But someone else would've taken their shot already."

The man holding the gun licked his lips before he said anything, Ricky spoke up, "Listen, Joel, we should go," 

"So, you do have name," I responded

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, he turned his head towards Ricky, "I'm not leaving." 

"Dude, we have to go!" Ricky yelled, "She's the vigilante, I've seen her on the news." 

Joel turned around towards Ricky, "Are you a coward now?" he asked, "She's a woman, she can't do shit! You can either choose to stay or you can run and I can shoot you later." 

Ricky licked his lips, "Look, man," he started, "Woman or not, she can still kick our ass, either way, we're as good as dead." 

"Men," I mumbled, I reached for my whip, "Well, it's getting late and I want to go home, so let's get this over with." Joel turned around and I whipped at him, the silver encircling around his gun. I pulled the whip back, the gun flew and hit the back of the dumpster. The other two pulled out their guns and the man was still kneeling down. The other man aimed at the man on the ground and I whipped at him, he dropped the gun when the whip hit his wrist. 

Joel ran up towards me and swung his fist, I quickly ducked avoiding the swing. I stood back up and swung my leg up, kicking him in the chest. He fell down with a grunt and I ran towards to where the gun fell near the man, he was huddled on the ground hoping not to get shot or hurt. I picked up the gun and pulled him up by the collar of his shirt. 

I hand him the gun, "Take the gun and leave," he grabbed the gun hastily and nodded before running off into the night. The nearest man near me had angry look on his face. 

"So, we have Ricky and Joel. What's your name?" I asked teasingly, the man licked his lips and smirked, he aimed to swing and I ducked quickly and when I was on the ground, I swung my left against him making him fall with a thud. 

Ricky stood frozen in between the mess, the gun shaking in his hand, he raised his hands up, "Look, I don't want any beef," he started, "I'm y-young," 

Before I could answer I felt myself on the ground, my face colliding with the cement. I turned over to see who it was and saw Joel, the leader, looking at me with a smirk on his face. 

"Like I said, woman can't do shit," he pulled a knife out of his pocket, "You, hold her down, you too Ricky," he ordered, the two followed obediently, Ricky held down my arms and he had an apologetic look on his face, while the other one held down my legs. I tried squirming my way out of their hold but the two men were strong. My back felt like it was burning. Joel bent down and held the cool blade against my neck. 

"You're helpless, now," he said with a smirk. 

"No. You are." I spit at him, he closed his eyes and wiped the spit off his face. 

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" I kept trying to move but I couldn't, I was as good as dead, but I couldn't leave like this. 

Suddenly, a gust of wind hit everyone, Joel turned around and Ricky let go of my arms. I sat up quickly punched the other man in the face. He fell back and I got up quickly. When I turned around, the bat was was fighting Joel. The bat, Ricky ran away quickly, leaving his gun behind. The man that had no name, got up and tried swinging at me again. I managed to miss every hit but so did he. He was taller and stronger than me, I was no match. I looked around and saw my whip on the ground, just a few feet away. I ran quickly to grab it but he must have had the same idea and he stepped on it when I was about to grab it. 

I pulled out my snake bracelets and the snakes straightened out into two batons. Joel lay on the ground, defeated by the Batman. The Batman had tied him up making him unable to move, the other man looked at me with wide eyes when the snake bracelets turned to batons. 

Before I could use them, Batman grabbed a hold of him and tied him up. The man struggled within his grip and within a few minutes he passed out on the ground next to Joel. I dropped my batons on the floor, the two of them clattering against the ground.

"What the hell?" I asked, "I had that." 

"You would have died," his voice was deep as he walked over to me. 

"No, I wouldn't have," I stated, "I don't need help," 

"I know who you are Esperanza Flores," As soon as I heard my name my back straightened, I looked to see if the two members were unconscious and they were. 

I faced the Bat, "How, the hell do you know my name." 

He walked slowly towards me, "I'm recruiting a special group of people to help me, and you're one of them." 

"Me?" I asked, I let out a laugh, that possibly couldn't work, "You're kidding right?" 

"No," he answered, "We're on a mission to save the world, and we need your help." 

"And who's apart of this group?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest. 

"We have a metahuman from Central City, a cyborg, and an Amazonian goddess," he answered. 

"And you want a powerless vigilante, why?" I asked, "So, you're not the only powerless one?" 

"This is a serious matter," he said firmly, "You're needed, and I know you can help us," 

"You just saved my ass from two gangbangers," I started, "I stop petty theft, and raids or whatever. I don't save the world." 

"I know it seems like a lot, but I chose you for a reason," 

"What reason?" I asked, 

"You could've killed the people who murdered your parents, but you didn't," he started, my body tensed when he mentioned my parents. 

"That's because they deserved to suffer for what they did. If I killed them, they wouldn't have suffered," 

"What did your parents say, before they died?" he asked. 

I licked my lips, "They told me to always do right by them," 

"Which is why you should join us," 

"Look, this is the world we're talking about. The world. If I mess up, then we're all screwed." 

"You won't mess up," 

"How do you know that?" 

"Trust me on it," he pulled out a small piece of paper, "If you ever change your mind, here," he gave me the slip of paper. I grabbed it slowly and opened it. On it, it had an address on it, when I looked up he was gone and police sirens were heard from a few feet away. 

I tucked the paper in my belt and grabbed my weapons. This wasn't the end, it was only the beginning. 

//I hope you all liked this chapter and I apologize if it's too long.