Independence Day 1

[2010 July 1, Manhattan, New York]

The city was quiet for the most part despite the overbearing sounds of traffic. It was peaceful for but a moment, for the sounds of police sirens sounded off. Then came the sounds of gunshots going off. It was then revealed to being a police chass after a few moments. Police were chasing down armed robbers who had hijacked an armored bank truck. They wielded AK-47s, and were masked from head to toe in black combat gear. It showed that they were professionals, as well as showed they were veterans of past conflicts. For their accuracy was exemplary, since each shot that they made either took out a speeding police cruiser or took out the occupants inside. Just before another officer could be harmed, one of the robbers looked up. They found two winged individuals heading their way. One looked feminine, the other looked more male like.

"Shit, step on it!" Called one of the robbers, he then aimed upwards and opened fire on the two heading their way. With the two winged people flying after them, it was revealed to be Hawkwoman, and her only son, Hector, the Blackhawk.

Blackhawk nodded his head downwards, and watched as his helmet formed over his head. Not long after that, he held his left forearm up to and watched as his Nth Metal shield spring forth. It was a small disk like shield, meant to aid him in battle against foes who aim for center mass as well as more formidable adversaries. "Mother, how do you want to do this?" Blackhawk asked, and saw from his peripheral vision of his mother dodging a few stray bullets heading their way. The seasoned Thanagarian warrior sent a glance his way, then smirked before sighing at her son.

"How about you take charge this time, i would like to see you show me what all that you've learned." Hawkwoman stated, and got a nod from her son who dived down at the armored truck. He held his shield in front of him, blocking bullet after bullet as he closed his wings in so that they wouldn't be harmed. Blackhawk, or rather Hector Hall had a more athletic build. His muscles were still growing, but despite that he was made for dexterity and vitality. His armor resembling a more earthly design when it came to the bodysuit underneath. He had on black carbon fiber mesh, similar to Batman's. The golden colored shoulder pads, bracers, and boots that he wore were not for shoe either. Being made from reinforced Titanium, with only the Nth Metal that he had was a retractable shield and the mace gifted to him by his father.

Blackhawk swooped down, then spun around in the air with his swings flapping out to slow his descend. Not long after he had done this, Blackhawk came in and backhanded the robber who had run out of bullets in his magazine, sending the man back into the armored truck. Now inside and closing his wings in, Blackhawk rushed in before three other of the armed men could open fire on him. He leg swept one man, then shield bashed another with a devastating uppercut. Blackhawk stood a good 6"1, standing taller than most boys his age which was 19. It wouldn't be long before Blackhawk turned to raise his shield as the last armed robber opened fire at him. The Thanagarian could hardly feel the impact of the bullets from his shield. Before he could advance forward, the truck swerved and made both he and the robber smack the truck's walls.

Blackhawk gritted his teeth, getting a little annoyed at the stubbornness of these men. That said it didn't mean that he wasn't going to fault them for being tenacious, his Thanagarian blood loved the thrill of the challenge. Rising quickly, he knocked the robbers gun away and sent a punch to knock them out. The robber however caught Blackhawk's punch and got him into an armbar. Instead of panicking, Blackhawk stayed level headed. He grunted and used his shield arm to lift the man up and began to bash his head repeatedly into the against the truck's walls. Eventually the man passed out due to gain a concussion, then was subsequently dropped by Blackhawk onto the floor of the truck. As soon as Blackhawk turned, he saw what these men were trying to steel. It looked to be an experimental weapon, a rifle of some kind. It had a yellow hue to the barrel of it as it flashed irregularly.

Blackhawk admired it for a few seconds before turning and hurtling the three knocked out robbers from truck. While doing this, he made sure that all three of them were captured in a wire mesh net. He jumped out and caught the bet so that they wouldn't suffer anymore injuries than they've already suffered from him. The last two robbers in the driver and passenger seats of the truck assumed that Blackhawk had given up. With the driver smirking and believing that they had succeeded. "He gave up!" The drive exclaimed, though the passenger flinched upon hearing that.

"Gave up?", the man asked, "He never gives up.."

At that exact moment, Hawkwoman came down and smashed her Nth Metal mace into the front of the truck's hood. The truck hunched forward and caused both men to smack against the front windshield of the truck. Slowly the truck came to a halt, allowing the men to fall down back into their seats out cold. Hawkwoman raised her mace and twirled it around a bit before looking to see her sun releasing the criminals that he caught. The police officers quickly handcuffed them as soon as they arrived. A proud smile came onto her face as she watched the young man work professionally. She taught her son every Thanagarian martial arts that she knew, with her husband teaching him earthly martial arts as well. The two parents made sure that he could defend himself, as well as to work under pressure with a cool mind.

Hawkwoman moved off the hood of the truck, and watched as NYCPD officers take the driver and passenger out of the truck. She could hear them groaning in pain before they were handcuffed and came to with dazed and out of it expressions. Slowly, she walked over to where Blackhawk was and heard him interrogating the three men. "Who hired you, you have military training so I'm not stupid enough to believe that you just did this on a whim." Blackhawk stated with a stern glare sent to the men's way. Only one of them stayed back at him in defiance, and simply smirked. Hawkwoman didn't like that, not because of how the man acted to her son, but how confident that he felt. Instead of letting this cocky attitude get to him, Blackhawk simply narrowed his eyes at the man. "If you even think about escaping, then just remember that I still have the option to use my mace to bash your face in."

This made the man's smirk falter for a second, but even so he kept up his facade even as the officers took him into a nearby police cruiser. As this happened, Blackhawk made his Nth Metal shield retract back into his bracer, then let out a sigh as the officers took the robbers away. "Penny for your thoughts son?" Hawkwoman asked as she sent a look to her son. Blackhawk shook his head before turning to her, as well as giving her a slight smile.

"It was too easy..."

"I agree, normally there are more of them."

"I think that this is a bigger operation, someone is working behind the scene and preparing for something."

"True, but that can wait."

Blackhawk gave his mother a tilt of the head as he looked down at her, she let out a soft chuckle before speaking once more. "Today is the day, have you already forgotten?"

That was when Blackhawk's eyes widened underneath his helmet, before his smile became a grin. "No", he replied, "Just had bigger priorities like stopping these men from getting away. I don't really care about going to where you pose for tourists mother."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Mother that is where you go to get people to take pictures of you.."

Hawkwoman gave her son a blank look before turning and flying off towards the nearest Zetatube. Blackhawk smirked, finding her silence meaning that he had victory over this one. Though he dreaded one day when she would eventually get him back with that comment..

[Washington D.C.]

Hawkwoman and Blackhawk arrived to find Flash, Batman, Green arrow and Aquaman standing behind their protégés, Kid Flash, Robin, Speedy, and Aqualad. Hawkwoman and Blackhawk were soaring through the air before descending downwards to their allies. As soon as they landed behind the assembled group of heroes, the others turned to acknowledge their arrival. Kid Flash smirked beneath his mask and began to speak with his pubescent teen voice. "Well at least we weren't last to show up", he mocked, "What took you guys so long?"

Instead of being insulted by Kid Flash's taunt, Blackhawk folded his arms over his chest before replying with a mock of his own. "Let me guess, you want to feel some form of achievement because you and Flash somehow came last?" The Thanagarian questioned, and heard a snicker from Robin as well gained a sporting smile from Aqualad. Kid Flash however stared at Blackhawk wide eyed, showing that the Thanagarian had guessed right.

"He's got you there Kid." Flash commented as he patted the boy's shoulder. Hawkwoman on the other hand let out a sigh before moving to stand at her son's side. The two Thanagarians stood side by side before joining the group and together, they walked towards the Justice League's headquarters, the Hall of Justice. Many civilians were watching them move about and even taking pictures of them as they walked towards the entrance towards the base. Blackhawk overhead a few civilians calling them out, though one comment almost made him turn his head to one of them speaking about him.

"Hey, isn't Blackhawk?", one asked before continuing, "I wonder if his wings are real or fake."

"He looks so cool with that costume!" Another commented.

"How do they know you but not me?" Kid Flash whispered with annoyance, but found a reply from Blackhawk.

"Because unlike you, I can actually work as a lone wolf." Blackhawk stated and got a pointed stare from Kid Flash as they entered the lounge area. As soon as they were inside, the proteges began to relax except for Speedy and Blackhawk. He had yet to remove his helmet as he stood stoic like. Even going so far as to fold his arms over his chest, though he began to frown as he watched his mother begin to walk over to the other Justice League members. 'Why does it feel like...this is a front?' The Thanagarian thought to himself.

That was when he heard Speedy speak up with clear anguish in his tone. "That's it?", he asked, "This is the base of operations for the Justice League?"

Blackhawk raised a brow underneath his helmet and remained quiet, he watched what transpired between Speedy and the League. Though what made him react with confusion was when Speedy revealed that the Justice League had a space station as their base of operations. The moment that he heard that, he sent a look of betrayl towards his mother. This was due in part that instead of telling him the truth, she decided to withhold information from him. That also meant that not even his father told him about this secret space station. What else did his mother withhold from him?

"Son?" Hawkwoman called, noticing his silence for the first time. Blackhawk looked towards his mother and gave her a disapproving look. The rest of the assembled heroes did the same, watching him before the young Thanagarian unfolded his arms from his chest. With a sigh, he turned and began to walk out. "Son, wait-"

"There is no need mother, you don't trust me so I will do you the favor not to worry about me betraying you and the League." Blackhawk said, then with a march, he walked out of the lounging area of the Hall of Justice. He could faintly hear Speedy doing the same, as he marched himself out of the building. The Thanagarian was frustrated, though being angry as well was not a stretch. His own mother and father had always told him to be truthful and honest, yet they were being hypocritical about it. '...I need something go bash my mace with before I actually do get angry.' Blackhawk thought, then heard his communicator ping. He had gotten a good distance away, having walked himself towards the city limit of D.C. He had thought that it was his mother trying to contact him, so he ignored it until he heard Robin's voice speaking to him.

"Hey BH, wanna go against the League and show them that we can do what they trained us to do?" Robin questioned, causing the Thanagarian to raise his brow in curiosity and confusion.

"Not particularly no.." Blackhawk replied.

"Oh...well I was hoping to get your help since you're kinda the expert on fighting amongst us."

"Us?"

"Yeah me, KD, and Kaldur are heading to go find out what Cadmus got to hide", Robin stated, "You interested?"

Blackhawk mused over this, pondering on the pros and cons of this. On one hand it would be doing something that his mother and father weren't aware of. It would possibly get him into trouble as well, though at this point he just wanted to hit something. Otherwise he might take out his frustration on something else. "Very well, I will meet you at Cadmus."

With flap from his wings, he ascended upwards and into the air. His body soaring above the buildings as he made his way towards Cadmus' facility. It wouldn't take him long, he was already in the city and could already see the speeding blur of Kid Flash going forward. After a few moments of flight, the Thanagarian would soon arrive but only after his fellow proteges entered Cadmus. 'How the hell did they get here before me?' Blackhawk thought, then dived down towards the window opening towards Cadmus. As soon as he entered, he had his wings flap to cushion his landing as he found himself in an office area. Glancing around, the Thanagarian found no one around. "They work fast...a little too fast", Blackhawk uttered, "They don't know what's waiting for them inside."

Blackhawk immediately began trying to contact Robin and found no response, he did the same for Aqualad and Kid Flash and even for them he only had static from them. With a frown, he explored the room until he found an elevator. Using his hands, he opened the elevator doors and found why Cadmus seemed sketchy to Robin. The elevator went down too far, beneath the ground floor and even below the earth. With a resolute sigh, he jumped down the elevator shaft and felt the air rush past him. He didn't know how far he was going down, only that it was a long way to go. Coming to a halt when he saw an elevator come up, he used his wings to catch himself in the air. He then moved towards a nearby opening and pried it open quickly. As soon as he entered he crotched and closed the opening behind him.

After turning to find that he was in a white marbled hallway, the only thing that the Thanagarian could do was move forward. A fierce glare marrowed his brows, showing that he was not allowing any childish behavior to hinder him from finding his friends. Right as Blackhawk was about to turn a corner, he heard an alarm blaring. Looking around, he soon came to the realization that it was his friends. After all, he hadn't tripped any alarm sensors, then again he knew at least one person who would be oblivious enough to do it. 'Wally probably had something to do with it..' Hector thought with annoyance. His mind was soon emptied upon hearing odd sounds, creatures of some kind rushing down the hall. Having no place to hide, the Thanagarian prepared himself. He readied his shield, then pulled out a baton looking object. With a thought, it became a mace similar to his mother's except the pointed ends were blunt.

Taking deep breathes, Blackhawk waited until the sounds drew near. As soon as he saw something rush past where he was at the corner, he struck. With a swing from his Nth Metal mace, he took out two of these gray skinned creatures. Not long after he did that, he found that there were thirteen left. The creatures were gray skinned, monstrous, lean builded, and red eyed. One screeched at him before lunging at him with razor sharp claws. Lifting his shield, Blackhawk blocked the incoming attack then returned with an uppercut with his mace. He then quickly turned to backhand with his shield at another creature who tried to attack him from behind. Soon two more came at him with the intention to overwhelm him, instead of standing still, Blackhawk flapped his wings to move back from the creatures. Then he crouched spun around to use the golden armor on the top of his wings to smack the same creatures away.

His luck would soon run out however as one of the creatures lunged at him and got a lucky shot at his mace arm. It's claws biting into his flesh, though instead of showing pain, Blackhawk gritted his teeth and shield bashed the creature in it's grotesque jaw. He put so much force behind it, that it knocked out some of it's fangs. The Thanagarian turned and began to rush at the other incoming creatures who were left. As soon as he rushed at them, he let out a battle cry as he raised his mace and brought it down into one of the creature's heads. Then twirled around before flapping his wings to dodge an attack from all sides. Then came down with his mace once more to take out another one who was knocked sideways by swipe from his mace. In a matter of moments, the young Thanagarian had finished off the creatures that he had encountered. He let out a few panted breathes as he surveyed his work. There were a few cuts on him, but the most grieves one was that one that his mace arm suffered. Though he had adrenaline rushing through his veins, the pain hadn't caught up to him yet. When he turned, he found another group of the same creatures bounding a corner.

Blackhawk frowned, but readied himself as he felt confident in taking them out. That was when he felt the floor rumble as a larger and more bulkier creature bounded the corner along with the group. It let out an inhuman roar as it glared down at the young Thanagarian. Licking his lips, Blackhawk allowed a small smile to appear on his lips. "Fair warning boys....I'm not in a good mood." He warned, the saw the creatures charge at him. With a flap of the wings, Blackhawk returned the charge. He headed for them, going to show his might as a Thanagarian, though at the back of his mind he felt that his friends may be having a better time than he was. After all, they had the most mature out of them being Kaldur. So they shouldn't have gotten into too much trouble....right?