Chapter Ten - Calm before the storm
Honey stopped tightening the bolt and stared at her machine. Something was wrong, she felt. Suddenly her eyes widened.
"Oh, no! It's going to explode! Everyone moves away!"
They did as ordered. Kira hugged Honey, as the girl did not have time to run away like the others. The two fell, while the others approached the failed attempt to create a time machine. The smoke began to rise.
"Shit!" Honey shouted.
The two stood, watching the same as the heroes. Wrecks and smoke. Honey put her hands on her waist, scanning the debris.
"Calm down. We'll still be able to."
"I don't understand how I made such calculations wrong. I'll have to start over."
"Why do not you take some time off, Honey? Since you arrived, you work all the time."
Superman appeared soon after. But the girl shook her head.
"If we could get a time machine, maybe we could go back."
"Uncle Clark is right, Honey." It was Kira. "Let's go out this afternoon, and no protests."
Under the looks of Superman and Kira, she just had to accept. Her time machine would have to wait.
John woke as the cold water touched his face. He opened his eyes partially to see Lily holding a bucket. He just turned away, trying not to wake up.
"Ah, come on, John! Wake up!"
"Don't yell, Kiwi." He shook her head. "I'm hangover."
The girl tugged at the sheets until she was able to knock her brother down.
"Oh, what? Where's the fire?"
"Nowhere. "She laughed. "You need to be distracted. Let's get Dad to take us to Central City."
John sat down, looking at the clock. It was little past eight.
"I smell of cigarette, alcohol and vomit, and you want to get me up at this hour to go to Central City?"
"Whatever a good shower doesn't solve." She said. "I know you're upset about Martha, and I want to cheer you up. I promise you won't regret it. Meet you in half an hour."
Ignoring her brother's protests, Lily left. John wanted to go back to sleep, but he knew that if he did, he would be awakened by another bucket of cold water. So he had no choice but to get up.
When she opened the bedroom door, Shayera found the scarlet figure leaning against the wall. He smiled sheepishly at her.
"Hi, Shay."
"How long have you been there?"
"What? I just arrived." She raised an eyebrow. "All right, almost two hours."
"Wally, if you wanted to talk, you could have called me."
Flash shrugged.
"I didn't want to wake you."
"Hm, and what do you want?"
He scratched his head.
"I'm going to take the kids to Central City, will you come with us?"
"Look, Flash, bowling was cool, just like kissing, but I don't want to play house with you."
"Are we kidding? For me, it was pretty serious. I liked everything, Shay, and I thought you corresponded to me."
She wanted to say that she was sorry, that she did not think the same thing as him, but she did not say. Shayera looked both ways. At the moment, there was no one else besides them. She cupped his cheek and, standing on tiptoe, gave him a kiss on the cheek. Flash moved his face, so that their lips met. When she tried to pull away, he took her by the waist, gentle yet firm.
As at other times, it was good, and she found herself responding, but she knew she could not last. She felt as Flash began to push her toward the door, into her bedroom. She stopped, breaking the kiss, but kept close. They pulled away when Diana appeared. The Amazon raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She just smiled and went on her way.
"You'd better go." Shayera advised.
His head still throbbed, but he felt lighter. He felt that a huge weight was taken from
his mind. Batman opened his eyes, still in med bay. The memories of the night before came back, even if he had not forgotten them. Diana. He and the Amazon princess kissed. And it was good, very good. The possibility of something new formed between them and, for the first time, did not want to escape.
However, the other memories also appeared. Past, present, and future collided in his mind, and though he could not remember these memories, he knew now what provoked all that. The same responsible for the trip of the children, as well as the enemies of other times. Something more powerful than anything they've ever faced. And it was just the beginning.
More than quickly, he got out of bed. He had to warn the others before it happened again.
"Hi, Wally." The waitress smiled as her gaze met the redhead. "You gone."
He scratched his head. John and Lily were at his side, looking around. The diner was familiar. It was the family's meeting point almost every night after bowling.
"Yes, Grace. I was busy."
Grace looked at the redhead in his casual clothes. Generally, he came alone, and talked, or tried, with the girls around. He was in the company of two kids today. The redheaded boy had a huge likeness. The same blue eyes, despite being much younger and having long hair. Already the girl exuded joy, just like him. It was like seeing Wally split in those two.
Relatives, she thought. She remembered that she was still at work and should attend to them. She smiled again.
"Hot chocolate?"
"You know me so well. I'll have twelve."
The waitress rolled her eyes. Wally always seemed to love the hot chocolate there. It was his only request. And the redhead always bought in large quantities. He was without doubt their best client.
"I want twelve, too." Lily said, catching Grace's attention. She could tell that the waitress liked Wally, which aroused her jealousy. Even though her parents were not yet together, she did not want other women coming after him. Grace smiled at the girl.
"Are they your relatives? They look like you."
"I would say so. Distant relatives." He turned to John. "You want something, John?"
John looked at the menu choices on the wall. So many choices. Since childhood he was a little hesitant, and this has never changed.
"Give me one of each."
The woman looked from the boy to the menu.
"There are 32 options!"
John shrugged, making her laugh.
"You can see that they are your relatives. If you were twenty years older, I would say they are your children."
The redheads looked at each other and laughed. If she knew...
"Do you hear me, Honey?"
"Huh?"
Honey turned to Kira. The Martian girl wore her usual disguise, but she looked a little more flushed than usual.
"You know sometimes I can't help but read thoughts, right? Can you stop, please?"
Honey laughed and nodded. Kira looked back at the direction where her friend was so interested. There was a couple at a nearby table. One boy, who looked like twenty years of brown hair, had his back to them. But Kira knew that the interest of the blue-haired girl was not the boy. There was a girl with him, sitting in front of them. The girl was blond, had green eyes and was wearing shorts and regata.
Trying to be discreet, she blinked. Kira was not sure if it was for her or Honey. She sat up again, getting a laugh from her friend.
"All right, I stopped. But it's not my fault that girls love my blue hair."
She had to laugh together.
"You don't exist. At least I got you out of the tower."
She blinked at her.
"It was not all bad.
Diana bumped into Shayera. The redhead turned when she saw her, and Diana wondered why. She reached her quickly.
"Are you running away, Shayera?"
"What do you think?"
"I thought you were braver than that. No need to hide, I won't ask about you and Flash."
Shayera looked at Diana.
"There's no such thing about me and Flash. Would you talk about Batman?"
Diana had no time to respond. They saw a Batman stumbling toward them. He tried to stand and hold the walls. Diana held him, preventing him from falling.
"Hey, Bruce, you're still weak. What are you doing standing up?"
He looked at them. Her expression was not happy.
"It will happen again. I've been in his mind and I know something big is coming."
That was all he could say before the tower alarms went off again. Mister Terrific and J'onn rushed to the monitors. Diana and Shayera helped Batman walk.
'Anomaly detected in Central City." Said Mister Terrific.
"There is another one about Metropolis and another 17 points around the world."
More and more red dots glowed on the screen.
"It's spreading. Send teams to places."
What happens next? What happens? I predict confusion. Gratitude, see you next time !