FLAMEBIRD

Issue #1: "Hannah and Me"

"Hannah freaking Laszlo?" I'm being pushed back to second string for Hannah freaking Laszlo? This bites!" Bette Kane screams as she slams down the telephone.

Misty Collins has seen this sort of rant before. Her roommate, the sometimes superheroine Flamebird, does tend to be prone to them. It's a small fault, she thinks, for a roommate who pays her rent on time, owns a giant screen TV and knows Nightwing personally. Especially the rent paying part. Misty's a aspiring model/actress and despite her looks has not been as successful as she'd like to be.

"She is a world amateur champion, Bette." Misty replies as gently as possible.

Bette is not deterred. "So was I. Have you ever seen her? She looks like she's about 12. And always poses in those little school girl looking outfits. She's a walking Lolita fantasy with a backhand. I was famous too, when I was competing internationally, but I didn't have to pose for sexy pictures to get famous. I saw those pictures in those English tabloids."

Bette lets her rant trail off. She knows that Misty doesn't really want to hear it and is just being nice and listening to her. It's just that Bette doesn't do failure very well. She hasn't really failed at much in her life. World ranked amateur tennis player by the time she was 15, then she gave it up to be a superheroine. Actually she gave tennis up to follow up on a school girl crush she had on Robin. She got to meet him, even, but of course he did not respond to her affections, choosing to get involved with an orange skinned alien supermodel , of all things. OK, she had failed at a few things, but overall, she was ahead of the game.

"I just keep losing out to girls in skimpy outfits." she thinks to herself. Not that Bette herself is not beautiful. Her hair is long and blonde and her body trim and athletic from years of tennis. She didn't actually resent Starfire, since it was hard to as the alien girl was so damn nice, she just wished that Dick had responded to her instead.

She knew why he didn't and when she was feeling honest with herself she could admit it (when she wasn't, she blamed it on the size of Kory's chest). She was a wannabe. A little girl playing an adult game to get a date.

She finally decided to go back to school to make something of herself, maybe grow up a bit. She was still good enough a tennis player to get a scholarship and last season had been the number one player on the UCLA women's team. But now, she was number two.

"Second string heroine and now second string tennis player. It sucks being me."

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Bette's mood still hadn't improved much by the time she found herself sitting alone at a table at Dublin's, a over crowded bar on Sunset, later that evening. She had come, no, been dragged out, to be more accurate, to the bar with Misty, And as invariably happened when they went out, Misty was swept up by the usual male models and wannabe lotharios and was dancing. They usually didn't bother Bette, since (as Misty had told her before) she was too hard on them and too smart for them.

"I think we have a mutual friend." a male voice said from next to her. She looked over at the newcomer, who had seated himself across from her at the wooden picnic table she was sititng at. He was OK looking, with brown floppy hair and dressed in pseudo hip club clothes. But she was so not in the mood to be hit on.

"Sell it somewhere else, pal."

He laughs. "That wasn't a line. You're Bette Kane right?"

"Yes," she replies shortly to him.

"You know my cousin, Gar. Gar Logan*"

Gar Logan is the Titan Changeling/Beast Boy, who Bette knows from her Titan days. - DT.

He extends his hand. "I'm Matt Logan. He told me about you."

She shakes his hand. "Gar never mentioned having a cousin. I thought he was an orphan"

"He didn't know about me. I didn't even know he was my cousin until about a month or so ago. My mom mentioned that I had a cousin who was famous and told me about Gar. I called him up. We kind of hit it off and I mentioned that I was enrolled at UCLA and he mentioned you. I was going to try to find you one of these days, but...."

He stops as Misty walks up to the table. Misty is dressed to thrill in a handkerchief shirt and leather pants. Given her body, it's an awe inspiring sight.

"Hi, " he stammers out as Bette rolls her eyes at his reaction. "Where have you been all my life?"

Misty sits down next to him, picks up his beer and finishes it. She looks directly at him and says in a throaty voice, "I've been waiting for a big, manly stud like you to come along to finally satisfy me."

He gulps and then seeing that she's joking, smiles. "OK, I deserved that. I'm Matt, Matt Logan."

"Misty Colllins. I'm Bette's roommate."

"Hi."

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Meanwhile, out in the Valley, in one of those basement science labs where supervillian origins seem to happen so often, a supervillian origin is about to happen.

Eugene Weiner, skinny geek in a white lab coat looks into a mirror and then looks at the pictures surrounding the mirror. "Finally, my darling you'll be mine. With my new growth formula, I'll be a new man, a physical beast of a man and then I can come to you as was always meant to be."

He pauses and then drinks a blue liquid from a beaker. Nothing happens for a second and suddenly he screams. His body starts to change, shrinking to a much shorter size. However, this shrinkage is not followed by his head which grows to massive size. he falls to the ground. A second later, he rises and looks in the mirror.

"Nooooo." He screams, but then seems to reconsider. "Wait. I have done so much more than broaden my muscles. I've broadened my mind." He pauses and suddenly lifts himself off of the ground with a pink burst of telekenisis. He looks over at a table and picks up a piece of paper with the same pink energy. He looks at the paper and begins laughing maniacally.

"Soon. Very soon, my love."

---------------

The next morning, Bette is walking across the UCLA campus, when she sees a large crowd in front of one of the buildings. Curious by nature, Bette walks over towards the crowd. Spotting Matt in the fringes, she joins him.

"What's the hubbub, bub?" she asks.

"You don't want to know." he replies.

He's about to go further when the door of the building opens and two people walk out to stop in front of a microphone. One is Bryce Hollins, a tall thin man in his mid 30's with blonde hair who is the UCLA woman's tennis coach and the other is Hannah Laszlo.

Bette is shocked. "I cannot believe this. A press conference?"

Bryce steps to the microphone. "This is a great day for UCLA tennis. Starting today, the world's best female amateur tennis player is going to be playing for our Lady Bruins tennis team. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Hannah Laszlo."

He steps back and Hannah steps up to the mic. As she does, several flashbulbs go off. Hannah doesn't look quite 12 years old, but you'd card her if she tried to buy cigarrettes. She's got long black hair and a very athletic figure. She's dressed in an outfit which almost looks like a school girl's, with a white blouse and pleated skirt. She adjusts the microphone stand to her somewhat diminutive height.

Matt & Bette watch her get ready. Bette is glowering at the stage, while Matt has a little smile on his face, which he quickly removes when she looks at him.

"I'm just so glad to be here and a part of the tradition of athletice excellence here at UCLA." Hannah says, pausing for the crowd to cheer.

"Cheap pop." Bette mutters.

"I hope that I can keep that tradition going," she continues, "and that together with the other supporting members of my team that I can lead the Lady Bruins to a NCAA champ....."

She suddenly stops and seems to look to her left. Everyone turns to see what it is. It's Eugene Weiner, now clad in a gaudy looking costume.

Bette and Matt see Eugene come into view. He turns to her. "This looks like a job..."

She cuts him off. "Say it and die. I should let Miss Celebrity get her own Lolita ass out of this." He looks at her and she breaks. "OK, I've got the damn costume in my bag."

Eugene slowly floats downward and lands on the stage next to Hannah. The rest of the people near them try to run. Hannah tries as well, but he stops her with his power. "Hello, Hannah my love."

"Who.... Who are you?" Hannah asks in a scared voice.

"I am Prodigy. I am the perfect man and have come for you, my perfect woman."

He moves towards her and she shrinks away. He's about to reach her when he's struck on the side of the head by an object.

"Eat Birdarang, Jerky." Bette, now in costume, swings in on a rope. She swings towards him and tries to kick him in the head, but he uses his powers to throw her away. She goes flying towards a wall, but is able to flip so that she takes the impact and rolls away.

"Why are you attacking me? I am doing nothing wrong." Prodigy asks her.

She tosses another birdarang at him which he knocks down. She attempts to use the distraction to launch herself at him, but he catches her telekinetically and throws her into some bushes next to the stairs.

Bette extricates herself from the bushes and shoots a line above him. "OK, Mental Midget, it's on now." She pushes a button and is drawn back towards the steps. As she reaches his eye line, he grabs her again.

"You are an annoyance and are interrupting my wooing" With a gesture he sends Bette straight up into the air and holds her there.

"Wooing? Are you nuts?" Hannah Laszlo says to him.

"But my darling....."

"Darling? I don't even know you. And on top of that...."

She's cut off as he tightens his telekinetic grip on her. As he does, Bette drops a few feet.

"Hello! Blonde girl hanging 3 stories up. Remember me?" Bette yells.

"But you were made for me. I did this for you." Prodigy says to Hannah plaintively.

He loosens his grip on Hannah slightly so she can respond.

"Sorry about that, but I'm so not interested in someone with a gigantic head."

Her words hit him like a club. He bows his head and releases her. Unfortunately, he also releases Bette, who comes falling rapidly towards the ground.

"Damnnnnnnnnn!" Bette screams as she falls. Regaining some composure she fires a line at the building roof which locks on to it. She swings towards the steps and lands a kick on the now docile Prodigy, knocking him down. Police rush the stairs and hand cuff him.

Hannah gets back to her feet. "Thank you, miss..." A news cameraman moves towards them and both girls instinctively turn to the camera.

"Flamebird." Bette looks directly into the camera. "And I'm back to stay." She turns and fires a line at the roof. Smiling once more for the camera, she presses a button and the line pulls her out of sight.

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Bette is still smiling when she gets back to her apartment. Misty is sitting on the couch. The TV is on and a picture of Bette in costume smiling into the camera is frozen on the screen.

"Hey there Flame Girl." Misty greets her.

"It's Flamebi...." Bette replies. Misty looks at her and smiles mishceviously as she presses a play button on the VCR. "No, you've got to be kidding."

The TV starts playing and a female voice plays over the picture of Bette swinging off. "UCLA tennis star, Hannah Laszlo was saved from an attack by a metahuman calling himself Prodigy earlier today by local heroine, Flame Girl......"

Bette walks over and turns off the TV. "It sucks being me."

 

NEXT ISSUE: Holy Pilot Season, Flamebird! Misty gets a big break and is cast on a pilot for a campy superhero show called "The Cavalier." Unfortunately, no one remembered to get the rights from the former Batman villian of the same name and Bette has to swing into action so the show can go on. Be here next issue for "Cavalier Attitude"

NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

Welcome to my first issue of Flamebird. Bette Kane has been a favorite character of mine since I first saw a picture of her in the old Encyclopedia of Comic Books about Batman when I was a kid. As the character stands right now, I find her to be an untapped gem in characterization. I want to help Bette grow up, without having her lose the fun and good natured elements of her character.

I'm hoping to keep the stories light and have Bette grow without major angst (i.e... no one dies to teach Bette that with great power comes great responsibility), but by having her come to terms with her own heroism and the reasons why she dons the costume.

Bette lives in LA and the LA culture will be a part of the series. The media's reactions to Bette and others will always be part of the story.

BTW: Misty Colinns is not a made up character. She appears on one page of Titans Secret Files #1, as Bette's roommate. I've just extrapolated a background for her from that page.

I hope you enjoyed this issue and keep on reading.

David Tillinger