Gotham's underground was no better than the slums. As the homeless stuck to the alleyways, the criminals and mobsters built their empire in the sewers, the code "G.U." soon recognized by both the Police and Government. But, no matter how many times they tried to infiltrate the sewers, their top agents and criminal informants ended up dead.

For Aidan, all he cared about was the Fight Club.

Left jab. Right hook. Right uppercut. Aidan beat his opponent to a pulp, cornering him in the left side of the small arena. People jeered and booed on one side, others cheered and whistled on the other. Betting money within the walls of the fight club was no joke, it was a life or death situation for most. Crime lords such as Oswald Cobblepot put $20,000 on some fighters, and Bull, one of his steroid-fueled henchmen, was always sent to break Aidan's neck.

At the moment, Bull was about to collapse, heavy body threatening to shake the entire ground. He made a few comebacks, hitting the shorter fighter with brute force. Aidan felt the air knocked out of his lungs, skin swelling uncomfortably against his bruised ribs. He spat out a glob of blood, teeth covered in the crimson fluid.

"Gonna knock your teeth out, boy!" screamed Bull, readying his right arm for an uppercut.

Aidan dodged the fatal blow, and landed a jab straight to Bull's head. The intimidating giant seemed dazed, but finally stumbled back and collapsed. The referee jumped in the arena, checking to confirm Bull's loss.

"...He's out..!" the ref shouted, motioning for someone to get Bull, "Your winner for tonight, ladies and gentlemen, is Thunder!"

He raised Aidan's right arm, the crowd erupting into cheers and applause. "Thunder" was Aidan's nickname, and a name to use in the fight club. If anyone found him among criminals and money-hungry thieves, it would be game over.

Now, what he really needed was an ice-pack.

""""""""""

The peroxide Aidan poured onto his arm felt like fire, burning the poisons and bacteria within the wounds. With a shaky hand, he set the bottle on the counter top, hissing in pain as he wiped the blood away. He unwrapped the gauze from his hands, and the cold air hit his bruised knuckles after hours of fighting. Aidan wanted to shove his hands in water-filled sink, but there was a chance that the water was filled with parasites. Underground water was bad water.

Aidan looked at himself in the mirror, inspecting the cuts and bruises on his face. His skin was fair, slightly discolored from the heavy hits. While his one good eye was a light blue, the other eye had swelled up, blood seeping into the white sclera of the eyeball. His blond hair glistened with sweat, but the shortened sides looked like they were drenched with water.

If he showed up back in Metropolis the way he looked, Jefferson was going to kill him.

Painfully putting his blue and yellow shirt on, Aidan groaned in utter frustration when his muscles cramped up. Moving his arms now felt like a challenge, and it was going to be hell trying to walk. He left the belt around his jeans loosened, and the shoelaces of his Vans threatened to come undone. He carried his leather jacket as he went out the bathroom door, closing the door behind him.

The arena became active again, but screams of agony replaced the sound of fists hitting bones. Aidan decided to walk out while he could, not wanting to get himself into another fight.

"The winner of this match... by a gruesome and brutal K.O... is Killer Croc..!" the referee announced, "Somebody get the mop! Poor Bull just got himself annihilated!"

Aidan knew this was a good time to leave.

Bull? He was dead already? As Aidan walked out the club, he couldn't help but to feel a little bad for his former opponent. Hell, he was surprised that the guy stepped back into the ring! And Killer Croc? He was out of Arkham already? It was a known fact that he had 23 years left on his sentence, and parole for Arkham inmates was a challenge. No way he could have gotten out that easily! Unfortunately, Aidan was unaware that the behemoth of a beast broke out.

Oh, if he only knew of the tragic incident at Arkham.

""""""""""

"You've got a bruised lung, some swelling of the right eye, and a dislocated thumb. The lung and eye of yours will heal on their own, but I need to put that thumb back in its place," said the doctor, tapping at his clipboard, "What exactly did you do to get yourself here in the first place, if I may ask?"

"Boxing practice," Aidan lied, "Went up against the biggest guy in the building."

"Good. I'm reporting most of my patients activities to the authorities, due to the incident at Arkham. The Gotham Police will be by to ask you a few questions, well, depending on their response to your injuries. Now, hold your left arm out, please."

Aidan, silently nodding, did as he was told. He held his breath as the doctor took a hold of his thumb, and put it back into the socket.

"God dammit!" Aidan screamed, feeling the blood rush back to his thumb.

"Be lucky I wasn't required to re-break it, Mr. Raynor," said the doctor, "I will be right back. For now, just stay here."

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Aidan groaned, leaning back on the gurney.

The doctor walked out of the room, the sliding door closing behind him. As always, Aidan wanted to complain about the paper-thin hospital gown he wore, the coldness of the hospital, the quality of the food. It was all the same. He pulled the blanket over him, waiting for either the doctor or two Police officers to come to his room.

"We're looking for people involved in a recent fight. One that occurred in the Gotham 'Blackjack' District."

Aidan heard voices outside of the room, the crackling of a Police radio confirming his suspicions.

They knew he was at the fight club.

"Doctor, if you're withholding information from us, we can and will get a warrant," said one officer, "Where are they?"

"I'm sorry, officer, but patient information is confidential. Come back with a warrant, and then we'll talk," the doctor replied.

Footsteps resonated throughout the hall, the two GCP officers leaving the floor of the hospital. Aidan decided it was time to leave, painfully sucking in a breath of air as he reached for his clothes. Before putting his shirt on, he pulled the IV-drip cord out of his vein, wiping the blood away with a cotton ball. He hopped out of the room, still tying the laces of his shoes. With no police in sight, Aidan hurried down the hall, limping towards the elevator. The door had opened, two on-duty cops walking out.

But, Aidan was already gone.

Electrcity surged down the wiring and controls of the elevator, the power flickering for only a brief moment. On the floor that Aidan had left, the two officers jumped when the lights blew-out.

"Dispatch, we got a 10-10-Q at the Gotham Munincipal Hospital. Requesting backup immediately," Officer Johnson, a GCP Captain, called in the situation.

"Roger that, Captain," dispatch replied, "All units, we got a 10-10-Q; Unknown situation, possibly severe. Gotham Munincipal Hospital."

Downstairs, on the first floor, blue sparks flew out from the elevator panel. In an instant, the sparks became Aidan, the hair on his neck electrified thanks to what he had done.

Electrokinesis wasn't exactly safe, but it was powerful. Aidan had been struck by lightning a while back, and luck had been on his side since then. With the lightning strike came he abilities, and Aidan was no longer considered human. As a Metahuman, the whole world around him was... different.

For some reason, humans hated metahumans, and metahumans hated humans.

KA-THUNK!

Out of nowhere, a boxing-glove arrow hit Aidan's jaw, blood spurting out from his mouth. He collapsed on his side, letting out a yelp when the wounds threatened to re-open. The sound of metal hitting concrete caused Aidan to look up, the tip of a jagged arrow lodged in the ground. For a minute, it vibrated, the rope hooked to it bending under pressure.

The question was... who was putting pressure on it..?

A pair of steel-toed boots hit the ground, landing in a puddle of water. Aidan examined the mysterious figure, eyes trailing up to their face.

The vigilante wore a black track jacket, the silver zipper pulled up all the way to the neck. Black archery gloves covered both hands, some parts of the thick material scraped and cut. Frost grew on their cargo pants, the clothes darkening from the absorbed ice. A quiver filled with arrows was strapped to their back, and the recurve bow they held was raised, an arrow aimed right between Aidan's eyes.

Even with the domino mask this vigilante wore, and the hood over their head, Aidan knew that Star City's other hero wouldn't fire a single shot.

"Aidan Lynch?" Deadeye lowered the bow and arrow, "The actual Thunder?"

Aidan rolled his eyes, his laugh filled with both nervousness and relief. "Christ, Harry, you could've killed me!" he joked as Harry helped him up, "If I knew Arrow let you leave Star City, I would've invited you down here weeks ago!"

"I was just... passing through the city," Harry lied, putting the arrow and bow back in the quiver, "Barry said you needed some help down here. He's pretty busy with a new speedster and some firestarter."

"...And who are they exactly? I'm just curious," asked Aidan.

"Sitka and Maeve. I've met the two already, and... a fire tornado is just what we need in case of an emergency," Harry said sarcastically, "At least we get to start the summer off with some fireworks, am I right?"

Another horrible pun.

"So, how've you been? New fight club working out for you?" Harry questioned.

"If you're asking if I avoided Croc, then yes, it's working out pretty well for me. You should've seen the size of his fists! He destroyed Bull, too!" Aidan began rambling, "Remember Benji "Bull" Cobblepot?"

"Penguin's cousin? Aw, crap. Wait until he finds out about this..." Harry groaned, "We'd better get out of here. Gotham City's finest will be here in a minute, and Black Mask's boys are always in places like this one."

Police sirens blared from down the street.

"Come on! Get back into the hospital! They have a record of you admitted into the ER, so being absent is going to raise some red flags!" warned Harry, "Go!"

Aidan and Harry ran back into the building, climbing up the stairs to the third floor. The Police weren't far behind, the K9 unit following suit. The two hid in the room Aidan was once in, and Harry pulled the curtains in front of the glass door.

"Get the gown back on," Harry whispered, "That way they'll think you were here the whole time."

"What about you? What if they catch you? Or worse?" Aidan hinted at Gotham's rather infamous hero, "...You're going to erase the security camera-feed, aren't you?"

Harry nodded, pulling a usb-tipped arrow from the quiver. "Malware; the data erasing version. Product of Ashxs."

"Hackers. They always have the cooler names," Aidan chuckled, rolling his eyes, "Go on, dude. Do the erasing while I do the faking."

"Sparky," Harry said before leaving.

"Robin Hood Jr!" Aidan shouted back. He quickly got undressed, slipping into the hospital gown and getting onto the gurney. He shivered as the cold crept in, goosebumps forming on his skin. Looking over at the IV drip, he nearly forgot about the one important thing he was supposed to do.

The needle. He was supposed to put it back in.

5..4..3...

He counted down as he took the needle, positioning it where it was once embedded.

2..1...

"Son of a bitch!" He hissed, the sharp tip re-entering the vein. Aidan hoped the needle wasn't infected, but he already felt sick just by the sight of his own blood.

"He's in this room!"

Aidan closed his eyes, the noise of radio static soon filling his ears.

"See! I told you he was still here!" the doctor practically screamed at the officers, "Now, leave! Unless you have a warrant, I will have to escort all of you out!"

"...Fine. We'll be back to question him in the morning," grumbled one officer.

"Like I said before, no warrant, no questioning!"

The doctor escorted the group of cops out of the room, and motioned for a nurse to go back to sedate Aidan. Feeling the fluids flow back into his blood stream, Aidan felt woozy, his eyelids becoming heavier as the time went by. Instead of his plan to wake up and leave again, he became unconscious. The nurse pulled the blanket up to Aidan's chest, and soon left, the door closing with a soft click.

""""""""""

Aidan woke up to the soft and steady whirs of the machines around him, barely able to hear the tiny chirps of the birds near the window. All he wanted to do was sleep, just sleep for hours and hours. But, something forced him to become fully conscious. He was wide awake, the now-dulled pain giving him yet another headache.

"You and I need to talk."

That voice, Aidan thought, It can't be... him... can it?

Sitting next to Aidan's bed was a detective. He wore a light green dress shirt, his black tie hanging loosely around his neck. His black pants were wrinklesd, as if they hadn't been ironed in months. The brown dress shoes he wore were polished, however, cleaner than the shoes any other detective would usually wear. Clipped to the side of his belt was the standard MCPD badge, sunlight reflecting off the fake gold-plated metal.

"Good to see that you're alive, Aidan," said Detective Pierce, "Thanks to an anonymous dispatcher with the Gotham Police Department, I knew exactly where to find you."

"A 'good moring' would've been fine, Jefferson," Aidan groaned, "You're a cop now?"

"I've been a cop for three years now. I just haven't told you... yet," the detective sighed, "Ronald sent me to bring you home. He's worried about-"

"I'm 18! I'm about to turn 19 in a few months, and I don't need him holding me back all the time!" Aidan protested, crossing his arms, "No. I'm not going back."

"-I didn't say we were going back to Metropolis," Detective Jefferson raised his voice, "Your Dad thinks that we're already heading back already. We're not."

Aidan's heart-rate went up on the monitor. "...Is there something you're not telling me?" He asked.

"My powers," the detective paused, "I'm becoming more human with each passing month. I talked to the league about it, and they've decided to have someone else take my place when I lose my powers completely. But, I think the new team needs a potential leader."

"New team-?"

"The New Young Justice," the detective interrupted, "This is a Yes or No question: Are you ready to put your life on the line for the world, Aidan?"

"Well... it's... not like I'm gonna miss the fight club..." Aidan knew he would regret this someday, but being a 'potential leader' sounded promising to him. His blood-pressure lowered, and his heart-rate soon dropped to its normal rate. "I'm ready for this, Black Lightning." He used the detective's old codename.

Detective Pierce nodded, scratching the stubble on his chin. "Then we've got training to do, Bolt."

Author's Note:

Another chapter done, and... not exactly on time. I do apologize for that. Happy holidays and New years to everyone! I was away for a while due to work and family issues, which was why I couldn't update for a while. But, now that I am back, updates will be more frequent. I have also decided to tie in some (but not all) the events of the Arrowverse shows, and this is only to make things in this story more... interesting.

For those who don't know about the Arrowverse shows, there are the few main shows on the CW: The Flash, Arrow, and (upcoming) Legends of Tomorrow. I have yet to know if Supergirl is apart of the Arrowverse timeline. If you have yet to watch the shows, prepare yourself. There will be moments where you find yourself screaming and crying.

The next chapter will be published in a few weeks or so, and I am also considering accepting antagonists for the story. Have a good week, everyone, and try not to fight with your families in 2016.