Green Lantern's Protégée

21: "NINETY-EIGHT BOTTLES OF MILK ON THE WALL!"

Gotham City

October 23, 19:14 EDT

"Remember," Batman told the Green Lantern, "once you're in there, we lose all contact. You know your mission. Get in, find the leader, figure out who the supplier is, get out. Worse comes to worse and we will send a raid in to retrieve you, but that would put an end to the mission and we'd lose everything you gained on them, understand?"

"For the tenth hundredth time, yes!" Cyra said, adjusting her civvies.

"And," Hal started, still scowling, "you can't bring the ring in there."

"What?" Cyra shouted. "Why not?"

"We can't risk you losing it in there and the chance of someone recognizing it is too great," Batman explained. "The ring stays here with us. You'll get it back when the mission ends. I hope you were paying attention to Black Canary's hand-to-hand lessons."

Cyra grumbled under her breath as she brought the hood up, covering her blonde strands. She slipped the ring off her finger. The glow from it faded as she reluctantly set it in Hal's open palm. Her insides felt numb. "Alright, anything else?"

"You have three days, Cyra. Hopefully, you'll be in and out quickly," Hal promised.

Gotham City stood around her. The tall, dark buildings were almost suffocating like the stench of pollution in the air. Even from where she was, she could hear yells and police sirens echoing about. She didn't understand how Batman and Robin could try to save such a place.

The three heroes stood on one of the lower buildings that looked over a nice lake and bridge. Underneath the bridge, Cyra could make out the shadows of figures dancing around fires. The homeless were her way in. Supposedly, there was a secret entrance around the bridge that would take her into the drug ring.

Hal wrapped his arms around Cyra and pulled her into his chest. "Good luck in there, kiddo. If anything happens, get the hell out of there."

Cyra nodded against his chest and Hal pulled away. Fear shook Cyra's core when she saw the shine in her mentor's eyes.

"We will be here to collect you when your mission is complete," Batman said, and even though his face was covered and Cyra had no way of knowing, he seemed regretful. Cyra nodded and turned to climb down the building. "—And Cyra," Batman said, drawing her attention to him, "stay safe."

Again, Cyra nodded, before going down the building.

Dirt was smeared on her pale face as she shuffled through the homeless people. They all stank, like her after she had to roll around in the dirt for a little bit. They gave her suspicious looks, but the Green Lantern ignored them as she continued to examine the bridge.

Cyra's eyes caught a boy around her age, scratching the back of his neck quickly. His eyes were bloodshot and even from where Cyra stood, she could see his hands shaking. Cyra quickly fell in step behind him, a few feet away.

The boy looked over his shoulder. Cyra looked away in time and slowly looked back up. The boy was playing around with one of the sewer lids that Cyra was examining earlier. The boy pulled a rustled level on the side, popping the grate open and sliding in, disappearing into the murky blackness.

Bingo, Cyra thought. She went over to the grate, popping it open herself. She glanced over her shoulder as the boy did before. None of the homeless seemed the care about the younger kids going into a drain pipe. Good.

Cyra slid in, shutting the hole behind her with a small clank. Up ahead, she could hear voices farther down the tunnel and began to walk in their direction.