anon: uuuuhhhh I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about.
Guest: aw, thank you so much! ^.^ Kaldur has always been my favorite character because, c'mon, he's so badass! And I chose Vixen as my OC's mentor because she's a hero I haven't seen before in any YJ fanfics.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thank you all so much for 9 follows and 8 favorites! And I do apologize for this being so so so late, school's been very stressful and I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues lately.
đđœđ¶đ
đđđ đȘđđ â Another Rejected Sidekick
"Who, who are you really?
And where, where are you going?
I've got nothing left to prove,
'cause I've got nothing left to lose.
See me bare my teeth for you.
Who, who are you?"
DETROIT
JULY 4, 12:01 EDT
PRESENT DAY
"Aish Zoe⊠I'm not sure about this one-"
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Calypso will you just trust your best friend and come out?"
I sighed, biting my lip. The confidence I had built up before walking into the store suddenly disappeared as soon as I started trying on clothes.
I walked out of the changing room, balling up my fists in nervousness. My best friend held her smile before forcing me to turn around towards the mirror, wrapping her arm around my middle. "There, see? You're like.. a chubby, little Korean panda."
"Is that a good thing?" I asked in confusion, raising my eyebrow.
"You realize that pandas are the cutest animals on earth right?" Zoe said, but I was still frowning at my appearance. "Caaaly, you look beautiful, okay? Just because you have chubby cheeks, a tummy, and thicker thighs than most girls in our class, that doesn't make you any less attractive. Besides," she tugged on my dark hair, "you're the only girl I know that can rock short hair like that."
I giggled, smiling at her. "Thanks Zoe. It's just, I'm turning sixteen soon and.. y'know.. I wanna be like most girls and have a boyfriend. You've had one Z."
"Which was a terrible mistake." She pointed out. "I know how you feel Caly, I really do. I'm still thoroughly confused at why someone hasn't asked you out yet but maybe something's keeping you from being in shit relationships and making sure your heart is being saved for the one."
"Ah, young love." We turned around to see an employee at the store approaching us. "Why is it young girls are obsessed with love or the ideas of love?"
I shrugged. "Well, in my case, it's uh⊠complicated."
Zoe smiled, looking off into the distance dreamily. "I just want someone to sneak into my room at night to cuddle with me."
"Oh don't we all darlin'?" the employee responded with a laugh, causing us all to laugh. "I just came over to see if you wanted me to ring up those clothes before my shift ended."
I nodded. "Sure, I've gotta be back home anyway." I went back into the changing room and took off the clothes and changed into my regular skinny jeans and sweater.
The employee gave us a "Fourth of July" discount and wrote down on the back of the receipt, 'Don't try looking for love because usually love will find you' with a heart.
"Thanks for today Zoe." I said.
"Anything for my best friend." She responded with a smile. "Besides, I'd rather be here at the mall with you then be at home with a whole bunch of family for their "fourth of July family reunion'."
I laughed and she continued, "Seeing annoying cousins, crazy aunts, drunken uncles, ugh it's terrible."
We took the buses back home, planning out another day to hang out but I told her I wasn't sure. Zoe didn't know about my secret because Mari said that if any villains or enemies of ours found out, they'd target her and I don't want that to ever happen. But, at the moment, I wasn't worried about that becauseâŠ
Today is the day!
Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad were other teen protégés like me and they were offered to join the League. Vixen wasn't exactly an active member of a League but she was more of a charter member.
A while back she used to be a part of the Suicide Squad but she won't tell me the full story of what happened but her past doesn't matter to me. She's a better person now and that's all that matters.
I had told her about the rest of the "sidekicks" joining the League and all she said was, "Maybe," but whenever I tried to talk about it, she never responded. Hopefully since today is the day she finally gives me an answer.
I changed into my uniform that was similar to Vixen's except instead of fully covered gloves, mine were fingerless and went up to my shoulders.
I wrapped the Devatma totem around my wrist, placed on my black domino mask, and made my way up to the top of the apartment building. Vixen was already waiting and I couldn't read her expression.
"Are we still going to the Hall?" I questioned and she sighed.
"ViragoâŠ" she took a deep breath like she was hesitating on what she was about to say. "You're not ready."
My eyes widened in shock. "What?! Vixen, please-"
"I heard what you said at the mall today, about you being insecure of your looks and how you want to be in a relationship and if you're going to be a part of the League⊠you don't have much of an ordinary life anymore. All of that will disappear."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I never asked you if I could be your protégé. You offered me." I said, anger starting to boil up in my veins. "And I've been training with you for three years and I've been your protégé for two almost three years. You have put me through so much pain and struggle and I'm not going to throw that all away just because you think I'm not ready."
Vixen growled, "You're still a child!You're not ready to fight alongside the League." I huffed in annoyance, turning away from her. "You think us fighting muggers and saving a convenient store from getting robbed is what they do all day?"
I crossed my arms, looking down at my boots. "AniyoâŠ"
"Exactly."
"Well, if you'd let me go on those types of missions with you maybe I'd be ready-"
"No." Vixen interrupted, shaking her head. "Absolutely not."
I groaned, wanting to burst from all the irritation and anger but I, surprisingly, keep myself calm. "Then what was even the point of training me huh? If you're not going to let me be a serious hero then-"
"You are not a hero. You are a sidekick."
I gasped, looking up at her in astonishment. I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes as her words started echoing in my mind.
She realized what she had said and her eyes softened but she didn't say anything. I guessed she wasn't sure what to say.
I took off my mask and threw it on the ground in front of her. "Wah⊠I can't believe you said that."
"Caly-" she tried to place her hand on my shoulder, but I swatted it off.
"No Mari. No." I interrupted firmly. "When you came to me on my birthday, you said you wanted me to be your protégé so we could have more mother-daughter time and I thought when we went on patrol and trained together, you saw me as your equal or at least as your partner, not as someone below you⊠not a sidekick." My guardian was silent as she took in my words. "I thought you had more respect for me. In two more years, I'll be an adult Mari and you can't baby me anymore." I wiped a tear away from my eye. "But I honestly thought you had more respect for me to at least give me a chance to go with the rest of the protégés. I guess I was wrong."
As I was leaving, she called out to me, saying she wanted to talk about it but I didn't listen. I was so angry and upset that my body was shaking. How dare she say I'm not ready? She's the fucking one who trained me!
All this time, I thought she saw me as her partner considering I was her daughter and protégé but all she saw me as was a sidekick.
Honestly, it hurt me. It really did. I don't think I'd be able to work alongside her again until she saw me not as a sidekick.
I was also very confused. Mari was the one who suggested I become her protégé and she loved helping me train. So why was she so against me progressing as a hero?
If she was really worried about me longer having a 'life' then she shouldn't have asked me to be her partner.
Did she believe that I was too weak or innocent to bring me along on dangerous missions? Just because I'm insecure doesn't mean I won't be less powerful. Yeah, sure, I've had doubts on whether I'd be able to protect myself or not, but it never stopped me. I managed.
I angrily took off my uniform, throwing it somewhere across my room. I slammed my door behind me and I was glad I didn't break it. Believe me, I wanted to but that would mean I would have to explain to Mari what happened and I don't want to see her.
For the rest of the evening, Mari and I didn't say a single word to each other and I was genuinely glad because I needed time away from her for as long as possible.
DETROIT
JULY 18, 10:22
I was still mad at my mentor, trust me, but I wasn't going to let my anger get the best of me. If Detroit citizens needed help â they always do â then I'll do my best to help them, not letting my angsty teen emotions get in the way.
Throughout the last two weeks, Mari tried speaking to me about what happened but whenever I asked if she changed her mind about letting me join the rest of the protégés she always brought up what actually happened on Independence day.
Apparently, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash, people I've never met before but seen on TV, hacked into the Justice League and investigated a fire at some creepy science lab called Cadmus. They also rescued Superman's clone, Superboy. I tried asking her what happened after that, but she shrugged it off, telling me to pay attention to patrol.
At the moment, I was sitting on a building's ledge, watching for any early morning crime but like always, there was never really any.
Just as I was about to leap to another building to get a better vantage point, there was a loud crash then an explosion, followed by ear-piercing screams.
I exchanged looks with Vixen before we rushed towards the loud noise. Below the building we were now on, there was a group of bulky men, and a few women, threatening people around them with guns and baseball bats.
Business as usual, I thought, getting ready to jump down until my mentor shot out her hand, stopping me. I gave her a confused look before she pointed towards the men.
One of them had pointed a gun towards a store window and instead of bullets, ice shot out, breaking the glass. Were they some kind of meta humans or thugs that got their hands on the wrong technology?
As I was about to touch my Devatma totem, preparing to fight them, Vixen pushed me back, off the ledge. "No, you're not fighting these guys."
I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "Yah, jinja? Are you seriously going to bring the 'I'm not ready' thing back up again?"
Vixen stood straight up, narrowing her eyes at me and never have I ever before seen such anger and annoyance and then fear, which confused me. "You are NOT ready." She stated firmly, her voice loud but she wasn't exactly yelling at me. "We are not talking about this again. You are trained to fight people with inhuman abilities-"
"Even though I have a special bracelet that gives me the abilities of the entire animal kingdom which gives me inhuman abilitiesâŠ" I interrupted and she growled and before she could protest against me fighting beside her, like a protĂ©gĂ© should, I touched the Devatma totem and felt the flight of a simple falcon surge through me.
I flew away from my mentor and once I was far away enough, I yelled up at the sky in frustration. I jumped down into an alley and without thinking, punched a large metal dumpster, causing it crash into a telephone box and the doors automatically opened.
I raised my eyebrow curiously, slowly stepping towards it, my fingertips brushing against the large dent I had imprinted on the dumpster. I entered the box, noting that it seemed pretty normal; it wasn't a Tardis and there was no Doctor Who.
Just as I was about to leave, a beam of light shot out, as if it was scanning me. "Recognized, Virago, B-06."
A bright light consumed my vision, causing me to close my eyes and I felt the telephone box disappear around me. I tried moving around and lost my balance, falling onto very heard floor.
"Ow," I winced opening my eyes, looking around. I opened my mouth in shock when I saw who was in front of me. "No way. Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash?! And â female Martian Manhunter?"
