Lighting a Spark

She was still stuck in New York, and in New York City no less. She really did not like the town, mostly because it wasn't everything she thought it was going to be; a big, grand city with not that many problems. Had that been a bit idealistic? It certainly had been, judging by her condition right then; warehouses were really starting to go out of style, in her mind. They were not a very nice play to live in; hence she had taken to breaking into and using the homes of people on, say, vacation. She did, of course, make sure they went on vacation first; it wasn't too difficult to do so, considering how easily she could hear conversations that were quite a bit away. Her hearing was indeed useful, as were her other enhanced senses; she had used them plenty of times already during her time with powers. She wouldn't call herself a superhero though; superheroes wouldn't kill enemies, as far as she knew. What better way was there to make sure someone was down and out though? Besides that, if they were aiming to kill you, they deserved the same courtesy in reverse; you had to be willing to kill bad people if you wanted to bring good to the world. It wasn't the best way to go about it, sure, but it was most definitely the easy way.

Besides, you had to prioritize innocent people over the villain any day of the week, any hour of the week; there was no way around that fact. That was when she heard it; her ears perked up a little bit and listened to a group of thugs in the alley down below talking about breaking into a local supermarket for revenge, or something stupid like that. How typical of villains to go for revenge first off; without many theatrics, the girl stood up, casting a glance down towards the ground; it wasn't too far off. She had chosen this rooftop mostly because of that; it wasn't too difficult to get off the top of a rooftop so long as on one side it had an alleyway, and so long as it wasn't too high up. Her dark, black cloak swished around her as she stood up. She adjusted the goggles on her face; unfortunately, she didn't have the ninja garb she usually did around her face due to them accidentally getting wet and soggy, but oh well. The goggles would obscure her face enough.

The thin, pale 12 year old then promptly darted down into the alleyway, jumping back and forth between the two opposing walls to make sure she didn't hit the bottom too roughly, and soon enough, she was standing on the alley ground, watching the three males who were still oblivious to her. She moved just a bit, just to put her hand on her hip; by doing so, she exposed the black jeans and black, long-sleeved shirt she wore. "Ahem? Little girl here to kick your ass and stop you from robbing a place. Any problems with that?" she questioned of them, wondering what their move might be.

The six "thugs" were actually members of Phoenix. Dr.Everyone had learned of their hatred of a certain supermarket, and it's owners. He had decided to capitalize on that, and have them rob the place. He'd get money, and they'd get revenge. It was a win win situation.

A girl wearing some dark clothing appeared out of the shadows, and began to speak.

"Ahem? Little girl here to kick your ass and stop you from robbing the place. Any problems with that?"

The "head" of the group (which was the leader when Dr.Everyone wasn't around) spoke in response.

"I don't have any problems with it, so long as you don't have a problem with having lead in you."

All six of the Phoenix members aimed their automatic rifles at the young girl, fingers pulling the triggers. Triggers half way to firing. Then a man wearing a lab coat and a completely concealing helmet descended from the sky.

"Doc, we were just about to turn this lil' bitch into some of that swiss cheese. But maybe you'd like to turn her into a burnt steak?" The head of the group said.

The man responded, as fire consumed his hands.

"I will remind you just once more of the contract we had concerning your employment." His tone was stern and professional, with the slightest bit of an english accent. And he wasn't yelling, just speaking at normal talking level. But you could hear his anger. "You are not to kill anyone I don't authorize you to while on a job for me. And that pertains especially to minors. Disregard those orders again, and you'll be the burnt steak."

The man then turned to the little girl. His tone was much nicer and friendly, but still stern and professional. It sounded like he was attempting feeling, but could only achieve borderline apathy.

"Where are you parents?"

Burnt steak, a doctor, and an English accent. This talk of burning things instantly brought to mind a question: Is that what this "doctor's" ability consisted of? Being able to use fire at will? How far did that extend though? Could he do it just around his hands? Or could he cause fire to appear anywhere that he wanted? These were important questions to ask, especially considering the fact that he did not seem to be a good guy, not if he was associating with people that were about to rob a supermarket. "They are either down there," Dakka began, gesturing towards the ground. "Or up there, take your pick. It's my hope they're up there though," she finished, this time gesturing upwards at the sky. A little...callous, perhaps heartless even, but she had accepted that her parents were dead, as difficult as such a thing was to accept. There was nothing she could try and do that would miraculously cause them to come back to life either; she had no choice but to accept the fact that they were dead. After answering the question of the man, she focused on him a bit more; he looked so...so odd.

A lab coat, sure, that wasn't too odd, especially considering her own costume; but the helmet looked completely out of place with the lab coat. Was it the time or place to insult his costume sense? No, she didn't think that would be very intelligent at all, and if there was one thing she was, it was intelligent. She had heard the English accent he held, as well as the anger in his voice; he hadn't been yelling, no, but you picked up on those things after having enhanced senses for a while.

"So, you're a doctor, have an English accent, and your abilities relate to fire somehow, judging by what your less than intelligent mook just said about steak. What's a fire using doctor with an English accent have to do with a supermarket?" Dakka asked of him, keeping her eyes on the people nearby that weren't him. True, she had really enhanced reflexes and a supreme reaction time, but even she couldn't dodge six fully automatic rifles. Perhaps three or so, but six? Definitely not, that was out of the question; so if it came to a fight, she would have to quickly shoot down at least three of the villains, or perhaps four; then she could deal with the others at her leisure. Would it come down to a fight now, now that it looked like their boss, of sorts, was stopping them from attacking her?

The girl's answer pertained to them being in either heaven or hell. They were dead. This lead Dr.Everyone to assume she was a well educated homeless girl.

Dr.Everyone laughed, and was about to reply on how he had died and that there wasn't much on that side of existence, but he suddenly felt something. It was a feeling that made him wish to lie to her, and tell her that he was sorry.

"That's...quite an unfortunate bit of news." She then commented on his fire and accent. "I'm not just any doctor, I'm a chemist. A Doctor of Science. Doctorate from Harvard. And yes, I control, create, and manipulate fire. I can make it appear where I want, when I want it to. As for the supermarket, I'm there to go and buy some fresh...green vegetables" He'd answered the innocent bit of her question truthfully. He was ready to go and leave, but some part of him wouldn't let him. It told him, or rather made him feel, that he couldn't leave a girl alone on the streets of New York. His own hired guns had almost shot her up, and that's one of the least bad things that could have happened to her. No, he wouldn't leave her alone.

He was about to say something to her, but he noticed her looking past him, most likely at the guns behind him.

"Put those guns down, now. You can pull them out when we go...shopping. As for you, young lady. I cannot leave you out here on the streets, in the cold, alone. So you will come with me until I find somewhere for you to go."

Shopping? Was he serious about that? No, he couldn't be serious; he was lying about that, and that meant he could easily be lying about everything else he was saying. Why would someone so intelligent, someone who had graduated from Harvard, be involved in crime? And why would he expect her to believe such a stupid lie anyway? Yes, she would really believe that a villain who could control fire was going to just go shopping with a bunch of gun-toting mooks. She wasn't that stupid, not stupid enough to believe such a thing. Of course. He had no idea what her powers might be at all, or if she even had any powers; she could just be an ordinary kid who had decided to try and be a superhero. Plenty of people probably got inspired by superheroes everyday; she wouldn't be the first ordinary person to put on a costume. Had he seen her leaping down the sides of the walls, back and forth? She didn't think he had, judging by how he was treating her. She, of course, was not going to say anything about having heard what his mooks had said; then he might figure out that she had indeed heard them talking to each other about the supermarket. Shopping indeed.

"I'm not living on the streets. I'm using the...residence of a man that's out on a vacation in Cancun," Dakka answered him, though she doubted he really cared too much about the fact that she had somewhere to live; no, he probably cared more about the fact that she was alone. "Before I go anywhere with you, prove you're not a villain. You're acting as if it'd be normal for me to just merrily go with you, when it wouldn't be. The six guys with guns thing kinda points to you being not so good." she said to him, adjusting the goggles still on her face a little bit; at least he couldn't see her eyes. She had heard that it was easy to tell when someone was lying just by staring into their eyes. It was interesting that he had actually decided to answer her question truthfully, about his abilities; though...was that the truth? He had lied about shopping, before, after all. That was the problem of telling just one lie that a person could figure out; it tended to make them believe everything you said was a lie.

"You must be pretty sharp to survive on the streets in style. Smart and resourceful. If only more children were like you."

She then continued on, saying she would go with him if he could prove he was good. He had done this ruse before, acting the good guy. He's recently used it to trick a new hero into helping him break up a police sting on some mafia members. The end result were injured cops and free criminals. Apart from his intelligence, Dr.Everyone was quite the actor.

"It's not normal for a good simartian to help a lone child who's living on the cold, hard streets of New York, the same streets which thousands of criminals, gang members, and super villains stroll? As for proof that I am not villainous, think about it. Would a villain stopped his armed men from shooting a girl, and then offer to take her with him so she wouldn't be left out on the street all by her lonesome? Yes, some villains might stop you from being shot, but I don't think they'd care much about your well being past that, now would they?"

No, it wasn't quite that normal for a good Samaritan to help out a lone child, especially considering the fact that it was New York City of all places that they were in; it wasn't as if homeless children were a rarity there. On the contrary, she had seen quite a few homeless children already; that wasn't what he had said though. He had said lone child, not homeless child; he was worried due to the fact that she was alone, with no one to care for her; for some reason, that irked her a little bit. She was, after all, quite capable of taking care of herself; she knew exactly where to shoot to kill a man dead, after all. She didn't doubt that if she had to, she could take out the six guys this strange man had with him; already she was committing to memory where they were standing, what their habits seemed to be from just the few minutes she had observed from them. The kinds of things that would help when it came to killing a person; it didn't seem like it owuld come to that right then.

"I don't know. You seem to be in league with the men, as you yourself just admitted, and yes, I think a villain might stop his men from shooting a young girl. There are a lot of people out there who have some rather unhealthy...thoughts, let's say; for all I know you could be one of 'em," She admitted, peering at him for a moment; again, he likely couldn't tell that due to the goggles covering her eyes. "Though, I'll admit, you don't seem a bad sort. I suppose I'll come with you for now, though I still don't trust you. Not completely." she admitted as she put her hands to her sides, the cloak obscuring most of the rest of her body as she did so.

"Good, because I had no plans on leaving here while you were still alone on the streets unaccompanied." Dr.Everyone said, turning to walk out of the alley. As he passed the "head thug" he whispered in his ear.

"We continue with the plan."

He kept walking, throwing a gesture over his shoulder which meant for them all to follow him.

~10 minutes later~

They had walked all the way to the supermarket. The way they had walked had been quite devoid of other people. Even if there had been other people, the six men did a unbelievable job at keeping automatic rifles concealed. And as the Doctor had put it "Walking places has never killed anyone, especially when they were walking with superior firepower." As they reached the supermarket, Dr.Everyone stopped them all outside the door.

"Two of you stand here and watch the girl. The rest of us will be out in a minute, my shopping list is quite short."

Dr.Everyone and the four armed men then walked into the store and in front of the row of check out areas. The four gunmen pulled out their rifles and Dr.Everyone shouted.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! This is a robbery! But you in luck, I don't want your money! Just stay out of my way, or else I might just get over taking your valuables and your life. Will all cashiers please open your registers?"

There was a chorus of drawers opening and people running away. Dr.Everyone and another armed man opened up duffel bags and began going up and down the checkout aisles, throwing all the money and checks in each register into the duffel bag. One man in his fourties had tried to stop them, but all he received for his efforts was a broken nose and loss of two hundred dollars. As Dr.Everyone was collecting money from the last register, he thought of the girl. He then noticed the candy on the shelf.

"I am terribly sorry, but I'll be taking some of your inventory with me aswell." he said the the cashier, as he took a pack of mint flavored gum and a Hershey bar from the shelf. He and his armed men then walked out as if nothing had happened.

As they walked outside the door, a black van pulled up and opened up. Inside were more of Dr.Everyone's men. These men looked less threatening that the other men, as they weren't the enforcer/muscle types. The six armed men got in the back, and Dr.Everyone got into the passenger's seat after handing the girl the candy he had "bought" for her.

"I understand that you may not wish to come with me, as I am a stranger and my vehicle is a van. However, I can promise you a home for as long as you wish. Or, at the very least, allow me to take you where you want or need to go."

((Feel free to have her get into the van.))

She wasn't entirely sure about going with this man at all. He was, after all, incredible suspicious, and odd-looking. She had pointed out the former, but not the latter; mostly because he wouldn't really enjoy that, she didn't think. She frowned a bit when she heard him whisper something as he passed by one of his men; extra-sensitive hearing could be a boon at times. The plan? she told herself, frowning as she stared at the back of Dr. Everyone. Yes, he certainly was up to something, as she had told herself before. What, exactly, was that something, however? She didn't ask that though, for she was positive the man was up to no good; would he really be in the mood to answer questions that she had no place to ask?

Then again, it was her place to ask since he was effectively making her follow after him. He had said himself that he had no plans of leaving her alone on the streets, as if she would need help to survive. As time passed, they got closer and closer to a supermarket; what was he going to do here, exactly? That, she didn't know; perhaps he wasn't going to do anything more than rob the place, as she heard overheard the goons saying earlier. What was the point of robbing a supermarket except for food and money though? From what she could tell, the man had to have plenty of money already, just based on the fact that he had so many guns on his mooks and by the fact that he had so many men accompanying him in general. She also marveled at the fact that the two men assigned to keep watch on her were able to hide their guns so effectively; if she didn't know any better, she would swear they weren't there. That is, if she were normal. Her eyesight still caught the tell-tale signs of the hidden guns, plus the tiny noises they made on the rare occasions the two thugs moved. A little while after he had gone in, the good doctor came back out, with...gum and a Hershey bar, apparently for her. She could just run away right then, couldn't she? But something made her hesitate.

A villain wouldn't go out of his way like this, not a true villain. He wouldn't have gotten gum, of all things, and a Hershey bar while he was robbing a place, just for a young girl he had just met. She frowned still as she stared at him, wondering what he was up to. She couldn't tell though, not with the helmet obscuring his face. Just like how he couldn't tell how troubled she was due to the goggles shielding her eyes; he likely could still see the shape her mouth was making as it frowned, however. "I don't....I don't know if I can trust you or not. I don't think you're a villain, because really, no villain would have gotten this stuff for me right in the middle of a robbery," Dakka stated, thinking even as she spoke.

"I...guess I can go with you. Still not positive if I wanna stay with you, though. It's dangerous to stay in one place for too long. Especially in a place where guys like Pain exist." Dakka said once more, before moving towards the van. Yes, she would show him a little trust, at least for the moment; he had earned that much from her.

The girl stood there for a moment, looking at the candy he'd given her, then back at him. And then she spoke.

"I don't....I don't know if I can trust you or not. I don't think you're a villain, because really, no villain would have gotten this stuff for me right in the middle of a robbery,"

Dr.Everyone hadn't expected the girl to not know he was robbing the place, not wholeheartedly. She was a smart child to say the least. So when she mentioned the robbery, which told him that she was aware of it, he wasn't surprised. But the rest of the sentence. The part that she didn't think he was a villain, it made him feel that she accepted her. Dr.Everyone felt...good. Like a hole he hadn't been aware of was filled. For the first time in as long as he could remember, a smile of sane happiness appeared on his face. Unfortunately, his helmet made it so the smile was unseeable. A single tear even rolled down his cheek. But yet, he didn't know why.

When she mentioned Pain, Dr.Everyone's mind flashed back to that one day in Chicago. The day of the Third Great Chicago Fire. Pain had injured Dr.Everyone bad, but Dr.Everyone had done his fair share of damage to Pain. He cringed at the memory.

"If you knew what I knew and had encounters with those I have encountered, Pain would be the least of your worries. I understand, though, you not wishing to stay with me. But I can still take you where you want to go. Anywhere in this world, I can bring you there."

The girl pondered for a moment, and then got in the back. There were only two seats in the back.

"Mr.O'Leary. Please relinquish your seat to the girl."

"Why should I?"

"A few reasons. One, because you work for me, two because I could kill you, and three because I'll give you fifty dollars to do so."

The man half-reluctantly got out of the seat. The girl sat down and Dr.Everyone called out.

"Buckle up." Dr.Everyone said. He then realized he had said that, and had to cover it up. "Err, because I just robbed a supermarket and getting a ticket would be most counter productive."

She couldn't see through his helmet, that much was obvious to most anyone right then. She also couldn't see the smile or the tear he had right then. When he spoke though, she heard the sincerity behind the words; he wasn't a bad man, she was sure of that much. Perhaps a bit...misguided, but so what? He had, so far, only robbed a supermarket; she had done that before, so she couldn't fault him for that much. Granted, as she had told herself before, he seemed to have a lot of money already, but what if he did it for kicks? It was kind of fun to rob places with impunity, after all. She decided that had to be the reason, for this man before her wasn't bad, or evil. He was, simply, a man.

Fallible, like herself, able to make errors. She disliked it, but she found herself trusting him as he spoke, speaking of Pain, and how there were far worse things than that man in existence; worse things than Pain? She had heard others speaking in awe of him before. Humans who heard about him seemed to put him on a much higher pedestal than other people with superpowers; what could be more dangerous than Pain, she wondered. She was soon inside of the van, and felt a bit bad about having had to kick O'Leary out. She wasn't about to complain though; she preferred being in the back anyway, and if one of the people had to be kicked out, she didn't care which. She watched him give up the seat to her and she found herself sitting in the van, a small smile on her face at the doctor's announcement of buckling up; he had a good point though. It'd be pathetically embarrassing if they were pulled over for not having seat belts on after just robbing a supermarket.

"Doctor? Why'd you rob the supermarket in the first place?" she decided to ask of him, because she knew it wasn't due to her. That was evidenced by his lackeys already having talked about it before she was in the picture.

The girl sat down and put on her seat belt, smiling. Then she asked why he did it. And he thought about it. He didn't have much reason besides money, and he said as much.

"Money doesn't grow on trees. As I pay these men, as I develop new gadgets and gizmos. As I do everything I do, I spend money and need to replenish it. I find that the easiest and most abundant source of money is workplaces, such as that supermarket. It also helps to keep these employees around, as they had a grudge with the owner. Any more questions?"

It might have been weird that he was being so truthful to someone he didn't know so well, but it was a young girl. The information would be least harmful in her hands. Not only that, but he felt an obligation. An obligation to be kind and truthful to this girl. He didn't know why, but he had been nicer to this girl than he had been to anyone in years. He'd figure it out sooner or later.

That was a fair enough answer, she supposed. Though if he really were a doctor, then why couldn't he just treat people? Then again...considering the way he looked, she doubted many patients would like to see him. Aside from the helmet though, he did look like your ordinary doctor or scientist, so she had to wonder what the point of a helmet that completely covered one's face was. A mask or goggles, such as her own, served the same purpose just as well, that purpose being to obscure and confuse people on what your real identity was. Was it different with him?

Was it more for aesthetic purposes? She doubted it; if it were, what was the reason for him not having anything costume-related on except the helmet? She didn't ask that question though, for she felt that it was too baseless to ask right then. Then he asked something of her, if she had any more questions. The young Dakka thought a moment, putting some of the gum into her mouth as she did so. After several moments, only interrupted occasionally by the sound of her chewing the gum, she spoke up.

"Just...one more. Are you nice to all little girls you meet on the street? What makes me stand out?" she asked; obviously, the last part was pointless. She had threatened his lackeys, after all, and she doubted that many other little girls on the street would dare to do that. She definitely wasn't ordinary, he had to know that much by then.

The girl took a piece of gum and chewed it, and asked another question. The question was whether or not he was always nice to little girls he had just met.

"I think it's as obvious to you as it is to everyone present in this vehicle what makes you stand out. As for the rest of your question..." Dr.Everyone hesitated, but then answered. "I simply do not know. Now, I have a question for you. Will you be staying with me, or will I be taking you somewhere else?"

When Dr.Everyone said the part about taking her elsewhere, there was a slight sadness in his voice. To a normal person, it might not be noticeable. But if someone had exceptional hearing, and quick wits were present, they would most likely pick up on it.

He cared about her, that much was evident. But...why did he care? He didn't know the answer to that question, and she believed him. She could hear the honesty he held. She could also hear the sadness he had held upon asking his latest question; would she be staying with him? She hesitated to answer that question. Trusting people...it could lead to you getting killed, easily. She had seen other people die just by simply trusting the wrong people; was this doctor a wrong person to trust? She had yet to reveal her true identity to people as well; if she chose to stay with him, it was inevitable that he would see her out of her costume.

"I..." she began to say, pausing again. Trust was the key issue here; her trust issues in particular. "I'll stay, with you. I think you'd be a bit sad if I didn't." she said to him, whispering the last part so that the others, particularly his lackeys, didn't hear; she didn't want them to get the impression that their boss was soft. She offered him a smile as she said that, to let him know that she was joking.