Disclaimer: DC Comics owns all rights to the characters within. They are used without permission and not meant to infringe on copyrights or meant to generate income.
Tragedies of the Past, chapter 1
Green Arrow was annoyed. Despite not being an active member of the JLA, he had been talked into taking monitor duty. He didn't know that Match was going to be there, and even though he was quiet and didn't get in his way, the presence of the young man bugged him. Maybe it was that Match was too polite or too quiet. Green Arrow knew how teenagers were supposed to act, and Match didn't act that way.
"Why don't you run one of the training programs?" he suggested.
Match turned to look at him. Green Arrow repressed a shudder at the teen's calm expression.
"I haven't had a chance to practice my marksmanship," Match replied. "I'd like to make sure I haven't lost any skill."
"There's a shooting range program that you can try."
Match looked a bit dubious. "I'd prefer something interactive. If I'm going to shoot at something, it's doubtful that it would be still and not fire back."
Green Arrow saw an opportunity to teach Match a lesson. "I've got a practice program that you can use. You'll probably want to make sure your hair's under control."
"Thank you," Match said, not suspecting anything. "I'll get ready."
It was a quiet day at Titan's Tower. Green Arrow's face appeared on the monitor.
"Want to see someone taken down?" he asked with a smile.
"What are you up to?" asked Speedy.
"I'm going to teach Match to be careful of what he asks for."
Superboy shifted uncomfortably. Robin, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl looked more interested.
"What are you going to do?" Robin asked.
"He wanted an interactive marksmanship program. So he's going to get my hard practice program."
Match finished checking the modified Glock. He had changed into a plain black jumpsuit and wove his hair into a single long braid. He was ready for the play to finally be over so he could cut his hair. He took an extra clip of ammunition and placed it at the small of his back to provide easy access and not get in the way.
He walked to the practice program, ready to begin.
"Remember, no powers!" Green Arrow's voice came over the speakers.
"Of course," Match said.
The doors slid open, and multiple men with machine guns opened fire on him.
"That's so unfair!" Superboy protested.
"He went and took cover," Wonder Girl pointed out.
"He even snapped off a couple of shots to take two down," Kid Flash said. "Guess he was lucky."
"Hitting a moving target while under fire, running, and not having any time to aim?" Robin said. "That's not luck. When has he been so good with guns?"
"I don't know," Superboy admitted. "I never knew that he knew how to shoot."
Green Arrow was surprised. He had expected Match to panic and get hit with the fake bullets that would end the program. As it was, he managed to disable two with what would be serious, but non-lethal, injuries.
"The kid's good," he admitted to the empty room.
Match dove out from behind the corner and rolled behind another obstacle. He took three shots while rolling and took down three more shooters.
"All this would need is some white doves, and it'd be like a John Woo flick," Kid Flash remarked.
"He's so calm too," Wonder Girl said. "It's like it's too easy for him."
"No," Superboy disagreed. "When he's concentrating a lot, he gets a blank look on his face. That's the way he is."
When there was a pause in the shooting, Match rolled out and took three shots. He then sprinted for another piece of cover, dodging shots. Once there, he released the empty clip from the gun and reloaded.
"Did he take those shots with his left hand?" Green Arrow exclaimed. "I didn't know he was ambidextrous!"
"Is he just showing off now?" Beast Boy asked. "Why'd he change hands like that?"
"No, he had a reason," Robin said. "He managed to save some time by doing that. Just a fraction of a second, but that's all he's ahead of these guys by."
"Where'd he learn how to do this?" Cyborg asked.
Superman shook his head. "I don't know."
Ten targets left, Match thought. One for each bullet.
He sprung out and hit two of them before ducking behind cover again. He got a better fix on the remaining shooter's locations and mapped out where their movements would take them. A dash for another piece of cover and a few shots later, and he only had four shooters left.
After seeing Match deal with the last four, Green Arrow went to the practice room to confront him.
Match was sitting against the wall, cooling down. He had clearly exerted himself, but he looked relatively comfortable.
"Where'd you learn how to do that?" Green Arrow demanded. "This program gives me problems sometimes; you just breezed through it!"
"There's less reloading time for a gun than a bow," Match offered. "There's less skill involved for me."
"Answer my question! Where'd you learn to shoot and move like that?"
"The Groups implanted knowledge into me. Espionage, weapon skills, hand to hand combat techniques, and computer hacking are all things I can do from that knowledge."
"You were specifically shooting to disable, weren't you? You could have shot to kill if you wanted to."
"Yes."
"You've killed before, haven't you?"
Match stared at him for a moment. "I'm going to shower."
He walked off without looking back.
"He didn't answer the last question," Speedy noted. "That means he did, right? He killed someone."
"I've got to finish up some homework," Superboy said, abruptly walking off.
Robin stared thoughtfully at Superboy as he left.
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Many thanks to everyone who commented on my previous stories. I hope that you find this one enjoyable. I've upped the action quotient a bit though it still really revolves around interaction between the characters.
Any and all comments welcome!