Chapter 7: The Rise of Dark Angel
Kid Flash P.O.V.
I couldn't believe it. Even though it was on the news... I couldn't believe it to be true. There was no way that Hazardous Dreamer, my unstoppable mentor, was dead. We hadn't been able to talk to Peter to confirm this because he hadn't come to mentor us or contact us since Friday and he had only contacted us to say he needed help in find Dreamer, but he had been too late. Or at least that what he said on the news. He had said that all he found when he got there was a torn up costume and some ashes.
Batman said the reason Peter hadn't trained us yesterday, on Saturday, was because he was taking care of some "personal" business. He didn't say why Dreamer wasn't. So I began to fear what I didn't want to believe was true was in fact, true.
These are the thoughts that are going through my head as I enter the training room, ready to have another mentor-less training session. Except, there was a mentor and someone new. Spider-man stood next to a woman who wore dark blue crop top and leggings. Her mask was of the same color of her outfit and resembled Hawkgirl's mask. She wore black high heeled boots. Her golden hair hung loose around her shoulders. Her eyes were royal blue. Her lips were blood red and stood out against her exposed white skin. But her most striking feature was a pair of large dark blue, almost purple, angel wings that were tucked in behind her back.
Everyone looks anxious. We're all afraid to hear the truth because we're afraid the truth isn't what we want it to be. We all knew that this could happen to any one of us, including the Big Leaguers. It was a risk that came with the job.
I cleared my throat and said, "Hey Spidey. Where-where is Dreamer? And who is the hot new babe?" I hope I sounded like my old goofy self by adding that last part.
The woman's expression on her face was a cross between amusement and disgust and her wings were rustling and ruffling as if to agree with her expression.
The whole team held their breath as they waited for his answer. Even Robin was showing some signs of anxiety, evidence that he too had no clue what the answer would be. I almost scoffed. This probably would be the first time he didn't know what was going on.
"Dreamer is dead. This is my new partner, Dark Angel, and your new instructor, sort of."He replied flatly, like his wife and best partner ever had not just died.
Everyone burst into a short lived outburst of disbelief before our combine curiosity killed it so we could get more answers.
"What do you mean sort of?" Artemis asked.
"Well, you see, I have no clue how to fight or fly with these things yet." Dark Angel said as she spread her wings, speaking to us for the first time. "Though I can fight perfectly well without them." She explained as she shot her new partner a withering look. Her wings then promptly shrunk and disappeared into her back.
"No, you need to learn to use them. You have a new ability and you need to learn how to adapt to it and use it, just like the Professor taught you." Spider-man scolded.
Just then M'gann did something totally un-M'gann like. "I can't believe it! You and the Professor have already replaced Dreamer! I thought you two actually cared about her. She worked her hardest with everyone she knew to make them stronger, whether it be in knowledge or in their powers." She cried and then she flew out of the room, Superboy hot on her heels.
"Sorry, Spidey," Robin apologized mournfully, "But I don't think anybody is in the mood to train tonight." And with that everyone headed towards their perspective hangouts to mourn the loss of a great teacher.
Dick Grayson P.O.V.
Everyone was early for class that day. It was as if everyone knew that Mrs. Parker wasn't going to show, and as if they were gathering just in honor of her memory. The bell rung. No sub had shown up yet and the principal hadn't come with the depressing news.
No one on the team wanted to believe that she was gone, but we had heard the news directly from the mouth of her supposed lover. He wouldn't lie about her demise, would he?
Outside it was dark and dreary. Raining was pouring down mercilessly upon the people of Gotham. Everything seemed right for this day. Wally didn't have his usual pep and energy, he was just looking down at his paper and doodling aimlessly on it. Barbra didn't have her usual spark of defiance in her eye. And Megan, poor Megan, looked like she was ready to burst out into tears again at any second. She seemed to have forged a closer bond to Dreamer than anybody else.
Then we heard the doorknob turn. It seemed like the whole room was holding their breath. The door slowly opened and a women's foot wearing silver heels stepped in. The foot was well tanned and slender and long. It was followed by the rest of the being that hid behind the door. Whoever it was hid underneath the dripping wet blue poncho that hung loosely on their shoulders. She walked silently to the front of the classroom. It was surprising that anything on heels could move as quietly as she did. It was as if she were afraid to break the dreadful silence that encased the classroom. Her hands reached for the hood in order to pull it off. A watch resided on her left wrist where some faint pink scars were fading, as if she had tried to slit her wrist. I got Megan's attention in a mere second and made a small, barely noticeable gesture towards the wrist. She got the hint and instantly dived into the mind of the possibly suicidal teacher, causing the teacher herself to freeze briefly.
Megan P.O.V.
I quickly jumped into the mind of the new teacher as soon as Dick pointed out the scars on her wrist. My knowledge of humans led me to believe that the markings on her to what was left from an attempt of suicide.
I felt a brief resistance, but that could easily be marked off as instinctive protection from the mind. I focused on her wrist, in hopes to find the memory on just how she had received her scars. I did find it.
In the memory she was being held by her left wrist by a large man. On her left wrist had been a watch that was now in ruin and pieces pf it were cutting her wrist.
Oh crud, she thought, I got to hide it or he'll figure out who I really am. Fear was a huge part of this memory, as well as defiance. Exhaustion seemed to dominate the woman's entire being.
"King Pin.." the woman whispered.
The man was looking her up and down, not with lust, but as if she was a specimen that he wanted to study.
"Now that we both know who each other is, I have some questions for you that I need answered. What really happened at the Empire State Building?" The man asked in his deep voice, bringing the woman dangerously close to his face. I mentally flinched at the close proximity that I felt through her body and saw through eyes.
"You... should know." She panted at the exertion of talking and keeping herself awake. "You're the one... who set... the trap. I... I just waited in my cell."
Wait a second... King Pin... Empire State Building... trap... waited in my cell.
I gasped as I pulled myself from her mind, a mind that I only entered because she allowed me to, not because I had the power to.
Dick looked at me with worry, and the only answer I gave his concerned gaze was a big smile. I knew who was underneath that poncho, although I didn't know how it was possible.
The woman finished removing her poncho. She wore a grey business suit that was just as familiar as the person who wore it. This woman was in fact not dead or the undead, she was just normal Mrs. Parker. Well, as normal as she can get.
"Alright class," she began, "I have great/bad news, whoever was the class 7 mutant the M.R.D. were looking for, you don't have register anymore. This is all due to the death of Hazardous Dreamer Friday night. Apparently an old foe of hers was able to locate her because of the M.R.D. and the government were forcing higher class mutants like her to register. So in honor of the heroine's memory the United States government has removed the Mutant Registration Act off of the ballet. Now time to finish those tests that were so rudely interrupted."
Mrs. Parker passed out our tests, as well as something a little extra on Dick's, Wally's, Barbra's and my paper. Each of our papers had a solitary dark blue, almost purple, feather.
Zoe, one of the laziest students in the the class, noticed this and decided to make a deal out of it.
"Why do Barbra, Wally, Dick, and Megan get feathers on their tests?" She whined.
Mrs. Parker said something that instantly shut the little, I think that the Earthlings would call her a snob. Yes, a snob. Mrs. Parker said something that shut that lazy little snob up. "It means that they will be seeing me after school today to help me get some work done."
And I was looking forward to working with Dark Angel after school.
