The Hero and The Villain (a young justice fanfic)

Chapter 21

Tony was sitting down on the couch. I was on a chair close by reading the school newsletter. The Gotham Academy football team had hit number one on the ladder.

"Hey Katie. Come here" said Tony.

I stood up and walked towards him. But something weird happened when I got close. He completely disappeared. He was just gone. There one second. Nowhere the next.
I quickly looked around the room in panic seeing if there was someone there that could have done this. But there was no one. I suddenly heard screams from the street. I ran outside to see a little boy crying all by himself in the middle of the road. I ran out to him.

"Hey! Kid. Hey. What's wrong?" I asked.

The kid looked up at me tears still in his eyes.

"You didn't notice. All the big people left. My mom did to." He said.

I turned and scanned the street. The kid was right. All the homeless people in the alley. The thugs that stand on the sidewalk. They were all gone. There were cars that had crashed into other cars or buildings but they were empty. I didn't know what to do so I pulled out my phone. I decided to ring Artemis. She was apart of a team of superheroes. So maybe she could help.

"Hey Artemis" I talked into my phone.

"Katie. Thank god your ok." Said Artemis' voice.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here. My dad just completely disappeared."

"I know. I know. Listen. What I'm doing is gathering up kids and making sure they're ok. You should do the same." Said Artemis.

"Yeah. Ok. Where are you? We could meet up and do it together." I said.

I already knew she was probably out somewhere trying to find the answer to this with Robin and the team.

"Um. I can't tell you where I am. Just do what I'm doing and we should be fine. I've got to go." She then hanged up.

As I put away my phone I heard the screaming of another child. I turned and saw that there was a little girl stuck in a car THAT WAS ON FIRE!!
I charged towards the car and ripped open the door. I got the girl out and just in time as the fire was about to spread to the place she was sitting.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

She nodded and hugged me. "Thank you. Thank you for saving me."

The boy ran over towards us.

"What are we going to do!" He exclaimed.

I looked at the two children. They were both really young and had no where to go. I had to do something. I had to try to find other children in trouble.

"Ok kids. My names Katie."

"I'm Beth." Said the girl.

"James" said the boy.

"Ok. Come with me. I'll keep you safe and we'll try to find other kids."

They held onto my hands and followed me around trying to find other children.
As we were walking I decided to call Dick. I had to see if he was okay.

"Hello" said Dicks voice.

"Dick. Oh my god. Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Dick. I need help. I can't save the children by myself."

"Um. Yeah. Um. I can't right now. I'm a bit busy."

"BIT BUSY! Dick how on earth are you busy?" I exclaimed.

"Listen. I've got to go. Just gather as many children as you can."

Dick then hanged up.
What the heck. What is he busy with that was more important than saving children's lives.

"KATIE! Quick." James yelled. "Over there." He pointed.

I looked over and saw two boys. One old, one really young. The younger one was trying to lift up a pole that had fallen on top of the older one.
I ran over to help. I tried lifting the pole with the boy but it was so damn heavy.
James and Beth ran over and started trying to lift it as well. But their extra muscle didn't do much.

"Just leave me" the older boy said. "I'm done for."

A bit over dramatic, I thought. I looked around and saw a car. Perfect, I thought.
I ran and got into the car. Keys were still I it. I started it and drove it over to the others.

"Get out of the way!" I yelled.

All the children quickly moved away except for the boy under the pole. I drove the car gently into one end of the pole and it pushed the entire thing off.

The boy got up.

"Oh god." He said with deep breaths. "I can breathe again."

"Jacob. You're alive." Said the other boy and jumped up to hug his brother.

"Listen you two. You can either help me find other kids or get indoors somewhere." I said.

"I'll help. Least I can do for you saving me." Said Jacob. "Carl. You go back to the house and stay inside. I'll be back later."

The little boy nodded and ran into an apartment building.

"Ok. Let's go." I said.
__________________________

We went through many streets of Gotham. Some of the streets were completely deserted. A lot of them were over crowded with children not knowing what to do. There were also some other older kids that were trying to keep the younger ones calm.
I tried to keep James and Beth close to me. But it didn't take much work. They didn't even like it when I let go of their hands.
We joined a huge group of older kids and went to find others.
At the end of the day we were all piled into a basketball stadium. It was night and some of the younger ones had gone to sleep. When suddenly an adult ran into the stadium.

"Oh my. They're back!" He yelled. "Thank god."

It took many hours but eventually all the kids made it back to their parents. Except for Beth. The young girl had been informed by police that her mother had died in a car crash.
I saw Beth burst into tears. It was terrible. Watching a seven year old be like this.
I felt like the nurse. The nurse that had to tell me that my mother had died. And I just had to sit here and watch. I was heartbroken. Right now, Beth was the younger me. The Katie Simmons that had lost everything she cared for.
Eventually Beth was taken away. She would go to the police station for a while. Then probably an orphanage. But no-one would adopt her. She's too old.
I silently made my way home. Thinking about her. How she was feeling.
I walked into my apartment to see Tony. Sitting exactly where he disappeared.

"Where the heck have you been?" He said.

I smiled.
Even though he was a prick. I still loved him. He was my dad. And he was all I had. Thats a lot more then what Beth has.