kamrenamir

IT SUCKS LIVING IN JAPAN!!! No more marvel comics come to my local store. As much as I love DC, I have missed out on so many good Marvel series'. And it's gunna kill me not being able to get this one.

If I can't get Beast Boy can I have Black Lightning?

@impurestcheese: I was wondering if I should give him the famous "no killing" limit but then all of a sudden he was heel kicking a man's skull so I just went with it. Maybe Bruce will have something to say later......who knows?

(Here's #2 if you missed it.)

Rated-T for scenes of violence

The Next Day

Bilal was briskly awoken by his scheduled call from the woman at the front desk. He thanked her, hung up the phone and ran his hand through his thick black hair. After a brief period of sitting up and enjoying the silence of the morning, Bilal stretched his arms and back, then departed from his bed to begin his morning routine.

Thirty Minutes Later

Bilal wore, a plain grey hoodie with jeans and white shirt underneath.

As he finished his morning tea,he noticed that there was another missed message on his machine.He set the dishes in the sink, and walked over to hear the message.

Only silence could be heard at first, then a raspy voice began to speak inaudibly Bilal could only understand one word near the end of the message,"Burn"

He didn't delete the message, but instead decided to keep it for Adrian to listen to later. Bilal picked up his bag with his newly cleaned costume and camera within, then exited his apartment.

Downstairs Bilal waved at the woman behind the front desk as he passed. When he got to the door he also gave a friendly smile to the morning shift doorman.

Subway Station- 3 Blocks away

When he arrived at the station Bilal was yawning from the uneventful walk. He payed for his ticket and walked to his normal stop. As he waited, leaning on a wall, Bilal became aware of the lack of people. Usually the train to Paris was moderately filled but he noticed that there were only about four other people waiting today.

While this thought formed, it must have showed on his face because Bilal began to hear footsteps moving towards him. Before he could turn his head, a strong pain along with a loud thud hit Bilal's shoulder. The attack staggered Bilal and his backpack fell to the ground. When Bilal looked up he saw that his attacker was a large man with a metal bat, three other large men with a knife, crowbar, and pipe came and surrounded Bilal.

As he surveyed the men Bilal noticed that they all had cloudy white eyes, with no signs of their pupils. Before he could think further the man with the bat rushed him again.

The man swiftly pulled back and swung the bat for Bilal's head, just as quickly, Bilal rolled under the attack and landed a firm kick in the man's back, a crack could be heard and the man fell to the ground with a groan.

Bilal grabbed his bag and dug in searching for a batarang, as he did this the other three men sprung into action. The man with the crowbar swung downwards, and Bilal pulled the batarang out, deflecting the attack at the last minute. The man again swiped with the crowbar, Bilal jumped backwards and kicked the crowbar from the man's hand. As he did this the man with the knife thrusted for Bilal's torso, he narrowly evaded the attack with a backwards roll.

Bilal decided to go on the offensive and rushed the man with the pipe. As he neared, Bilal noticed he had a horizontal guard so he jumped into the air, and executed a roundhouse heel kick into the man's head. Bilal landed and the man, with blood running down his head, dropped to the ground soon after.

The other three men rushed again at the same time. The crowbar swung down and Bilal caught it before it could hit. He pulled stabbed the man in the shoulder with his batarang. The man began to yell with pain but before he could Bilal struck his head with the crowbar.

As he pulled the batarang from the man's shoulder Bilal could hear the train arriving, he whispered a curse to himself and decided that he had to finish this quick. He ran and as the knife slashed horizontally, Bilal jumped up and wrapped his legs around the man's neck. While the man began to stumble around, Bilal twisted his body and he felt the mans head twist with a crack. He fell to the ground and Bilal put his sights on the final thug. The train's lights could be seen now.

Before Bilal attacked, he decided to get some information.

"Who sent you?"

The man said nothing and charged Bilal with the knife. Bilal got into a guarding stance and prepared. As the man swiped for Bilal, he ducked under the attack and kicked the man in the side. The man stumbled backwards and caught himself on the ledge of the tracks. Just as he did this, Bilal threw the batarang into the man's eye. The man shrieked with pain, and fell onto the tracks. The train was now pulling into the station and the man's screams faded as quick as they formed.

Before the train came to a stop Bilal left the station, and called his job. "Hey boss, I don't think I'll be coming in today."

Tune into NightRunner #4 to see what happens next.

*Fangirling* Write more, please, I beg.

Woah that was quick! Good stuff dude, only thing I could say is maybe add more dialogue, I'd like to see if Johnny's new ways start to affect the others. I'm sure you planned on doing that, but some light hearted conversation before the bullets flew in the kitchen would have added impact.

Great job dude. Looking forward to what Johnny does. Just a question, will the rest of the F4 be major or will they just pop up every once in a while?

I saw talk of teen titans but is Beast Boy open?

@impurestcheese: Ohh, I didn't know that. They did, the last time I used Comicvine. Thanks for telling me.

(Note-

Yes, I did say that NightRunner would be my only ongoing but I lied. Please read the PREVIEW for a taste of where this Story will go. Sit back, and enjoy the (poorly crafted) origin of Valarie Castillo-The Oriole.)

Guadalajara Mexico

Valarie sat nestled into the small top-bunk of her bed, with her long curly black hair in a bun, reading a new romance/action novel. She shared the room with her youngest cousin, who slept on the bottom bunk.

"Valarie! Come down stairs for dinner." The booming but heavily accented voice rushed into Valarie's room as she read.

She finished up the paragraph, savoring every word and placed her marker. She sluggishly closed the book and hopped down from the top bunk, landing with excellent form, reminding her of the years of gymnastics training she was put through.

As Valarie collected her thoughts, she felt a rumbling in her stomach. This reminded her that dinner was waiting for her downstairs.

Valarie arrived quickly to the kitchen and sat down at the table with her three cousins and Aunt.

"Well look who decided to join us." Her aunt Pamela exclaimed.

"Sorry Aunt Pam, I was just trying to finish up my new book." Valarie said without looking up from her plate.

"Val's reading one of those kissy kissy books to make up for her lack of friends." Valarie's middle cousin Antonio mocked her while making smooching noises.

Valarie stayed quiet but Pamela refuted. "Antonio, you better keep your mouth quiet and eat before I make it so you never eat again."

This spooked the boy and he quickly looked down to his plate and began stuffing his mouth. For a moment only sounds of forks scraping on plates, and food being chewed could be heard. Salma, Valarie's youngest cousin was the one to break the silence.

"So Val, are you coming with us to see the circus tomorrow?"Val looked at the girl with a confused glance.

"Yea! Mom's making Alex take us, you should come too!" This was accompanied by a large smile.

Valarie contemplated the pros and cons, and decided that she could take her book, just incase she was disappointed.

"Okay, I'll go, just wake me up when an hour before we have to go." She took one last bite of her pasta, then quickly left the table to return to her book.

7:00 Pm the next day

In her deep sleep Valarie was brought back to consciousness by the cold hand of Salma on her face.

"Val, wake up, we're leaving soon." Valarie stayed up for most of the night and morning finishing her book, so she slept through most of the day. After she was awoken she lazily pulled herself up and after a rest period in the up position she hopped down from the top bunk and went to begin her hygiene routine.

8:00 Pm

"Come on, Alex, hurry up, we're late." Salma could be heard in the backseat of the car.

"Calm down Salma, we're almost there, we're not gunna miss anything good." After this reassuring message from Alex, Salma stayed quiet but still tense. Valarie barely listened as she was invested in a new book she had just found. This one leaned more to the action side, it had very detailed fight scenes explaining the attacks, there point of impact and there fatal effect. Val appreciated the new experience reading this new book.

At the Big top

Salma and Antonio sat in the row below Alex and Valarie. They sat through the numerous performances. Val was barely interested, and mostly had her attention towards her book. However, the Ring Master finally caught Val's attention.

"AND FOR OUR FINAL ACT, WE HAVE OUR ACROBATS, DICK GRAYSON AND RAYA VESTRI!" The crowd boomed with excitement that had not been reached the whole night. Valarie was interested to see which of their tricks she could possibly replicate. The two expressed amazing feats of balance, endurance, and strength. They seemed to work effortlessly together. By the end of their performance, Val was breathing harder than usual, due to an adrenaline boost. As the ring master began ending the circus Val leaned over to Alex.

"Hey, I'm gunna go get some air, I'll meet you guys at the car." Alex gave a slight nod, and Val exited the Big top.

Outside

Outside of the Big Top, Val took deep breaths to calm her body down. She pulled out her book and began reading it as she walked to the car. Out of the top of her eye, she noticed a dark figure move across the sky. She looked up, but nothing was there. Suddenly, a loud bang could be heard from the distance. Val, felt an alarming sense of urgency and without thinking, she was moving in the direction of the noise.

Find out how Val meets Nightwing and how her life changes forever in Part 2!