Penguin.
'You don't think he looks like a penguin, do you?' asked Vixen as she, Shayera and Black Canary stopped outside the doors of a grand restaurant.
'We could keep guessing or…' Black Canary pushed open the double doors.
Cold air nearly knocked them back out as they saw the towering glaciers creating the icelandic restaurant. Dining tables sat grandly next to a pool of water, daring the rich to taste the extravagant chill of the place. Blue and white predominated the scene and the only vibrant color came from the roses propped in a vase on every table.
'Well, sure looks like Penguin paradise,' Vixen commented.
Suddenly she felt herself lurch forwards as Shayera gave her a hard shove.
'Duck!'
Canary dived out if the way as a gigantic toy rubber duck nearly ten times her size came flying at her, landing with an almighty thump on the glacial ground, blocking the door. The smiling orange beak just became eerily menacing as the duck slowly turned to face them.
'Duck all right,' said Vixen as she took a stance, barely wondering how the ground could possibly hold the weight of the massive toy.
Shayera wasted no words, launching herself in the air and raising her mace above her head. Shouting her familiar war cry, she slammed it onto the Duck's head only to find a jarring impact run up her entire body, knocking her back.
'It's rubber!' she yelled in shock whilst pulling out of her fall.
'Why's that a surprise?' said Dinah. She leapt away as a powerful beam blasted towards her from the Duck's mouth.
They saw the white eyes of the duck all of a sudden turn a phantom purple. Barely registering their shock, they ran as the eyes blasted at all three of them. Dining tables blew into smithereens and the ground finally shot shards of ice at them when shattered by the duck's eyes.
'That thing's probably powered mechanically from inside,' shouted Dinah as she leapt off the landing to fall beside the pool. 'Hit its eyes!'
Vixen grasped her necklace, called for the elephant's spirit and then charged at the rubber duck. Smashing into its body, she felt herself deflected back to slam into the walls. Though slightly annoyed with the pain, she grunted with satisfaction as she saw the duck topple and hit the floor on its sides.
Shayera launched her mace straight for the duck's eyes. A sound like those of glass being smashed followed by another purple whip-like blast sent Shayera swerving away.
'Cover your ears!' commanded Canary.
Canary drew a breath and released her piercing shriek straight through the broken eyes. She finally stopped to hear the expected crackle and crunch. Performing a backflip, she threw up her arms just in time as the implosion of the duck's mechanics reverberated to its outer shell, sending shards of metal flying out through the eyes of the duck.
'Duck down, Penguin to go,' said Canary.
'Let's go,' commanded Shayera, leading the way to a set of doors that appeared most dodgy.
They found themselves in a modern room, its wooden walls and floors in stark contrast to the icy palace. In front of them was an elevator that simply beckoned them to enter. Sharing a glance, Shayera stepped in first.
The doors immediately closed, but not before Vixen and Black Canary had dived in. Shayera felt herself thrown back against the walls of the elevator as it rapidly rose up. She was then slammed forwards and fell on top of Vixen and Canary, who had barely been able to rise against the pressure of gravity. A small ding and the doors of the elevator opened.
A short, plump man with thinning hair stood with his back to them, wearing a tailcoat and holding a black umbrella that gave him an aristocratic vibe. Surrounding them were controls that, at least, explained the behaviour of the rubber duck.
'I imagined him more…cute,' said Shayera, swiftly returning to her feet.
'You're under arrest small man,' said Vixen.
'Cute,' came the soft but sharp voice. 'But very naïve.'
The umbrella swung upwards onto his shoulder and they saw the nose erupt with gunshots.
Shayera raised her mace and blocked the bullets as both Vixen and Canary dived at Penguin. Pain greeted them in the face as both hit glass.
'Not today.'
Shayera heard him say the words a split second before he disappeared into a hole right beneath him. She shattered the glass easily and Vixen sped down the hole using the cheetah's spirit. Dinah and Shayera searched around for a source of light. It was then that they saw the countdown timer. The numbers were red and small and at two point five seconds.
'Oh, damn,' said Canary.
Ignoring the looming darkness they threw themselves into the unknown.
BOOOMMMM!
'ARRRRGGGHHH!'
Hawkgirl felt the breath knocked out of her twice, first from the explosion and then from Dinah colliding into her. Searing pain ran across her wings and from somewhere, she heard Dinah croak.
They crashed into solid metal wall. A low groan escaped from someone.
'Ow, my wing,' winced Shayera. Her wings were burning with pain and she could feel the sharp bits of metal cutting into the feathers. What was worse, both were touching bare metal on either side of her and with a sickening feeling, she knew they must be trapped in an enclosed space.
'Are you two all right?' asked Vixen from somewhere.
'Great,' said Shayera. She succeeded in her tone of bravery.
'Don't worry,' came Vixen's consoling voice, not the least bit fooled. 'We'll get out real fast.'
'Where did Penguin go?' ventured Canary hoarsely.
'He must have used another door because he disappeared just before I hit the wall,' answered Vixen. She blindly felt around the cold metal. It came as a slight surprise when light suddenly flooded the enclosure. She turned to see Shayera holding up her mace, which was crackling with that special lightning. Giving a smile of thanks, she turned back to the walls.
'Here!' Excited, she retraced the subtle lines that indicated the existence of an arch. 'Shayera, can you break this?'
The Thanagarian groggily rose up, folding one side of her wings closer so that she could move a little easier in the incredibly tight space. Raising her mace, she smashed it once…twice…three times into the steel walls. It flew off its bolts to shed brilliant light into their dismal state.
Shayera stepped out. One glance told her that Penguin had vanished. She turned around to see Vixen supporting Canary who had a gash across her neck near the throat and bits of metal shining from her chest.
'Is it just me or are they as hard to catch as Batman?' said Shayera with heavy irony.
