Sorry this took so long, but I've been really busy with another fanfic of mine plus exams! (by the way, italics mean a flashback)
Nonetheless, enjoy!
The villains sat around together in the circus tent, in silent tension. They were all dressed again in their crime committing clothes. They had all just returned from an attempted bank robbery not far from their base. However, it had only been a partial success, only escaping with just under £1000 which Troy kept on his person. No-one was in a good mood. It had been a month since the whole 'losing their captive' fiasco. Since then, the makeshift team had disbanded which Troy had announced in his rage. All four of them during their free time had been searching for the two test subjects, hoping to prove that their initial capture plan hadn't been a failure. So far, none of them had turned up anything useful. After some time, Kira had convinced Troy to pull The Renegades back together, saying he should 'suck up his failure and move on', followed by a few more insults and a whipping from Troy. Unfortunately, Kira's idea hadn't quite worked.
"Well that was an epic fail, and the place was filthy as hell" Ali said disgustedly.
"You're the one whose power failed!" Kira spat at her.
"Camera's don't have blind spots! Besides, Arrow was supposed to disable the cameras! Where the hell was she?" Ali remarked angrily. All eyes were on Lauren, who was currently brushing the dark brown mane of her current horse. It was a Red Bay Mustang, though strangely it had three black hooves and one white. Lauren could be heard to mutter the name 'Jester' to it. Troy snarled and whacked her with a vine.
"Stop that! It's because of those stupid horses that you keep failing us!" Troy scolded. Lauren whipped her head round immediately and shot him a dark look. Ali raised an eyebrow at Troy.
'Idiot' she thought. If there was one thing that Ali had learnt about Lauren, it was never to insult her horses. Ever.
"What did you just say?" Lauren growled. Troy huffed and made himself look mighty.
"You never listen to my orders. Even Kira listens to me more than you do" He remarked smoothly. He look surprised though as she got up to face him.
"Maybe you'd better stop giving me orders and actually listen to me for once! I can't function well without my horses, so shut up and leave them alone!" Lauren screamed at him. She took a few deep, heavy breaths. Ali placed a hand on her shoulder as if to say 'calm down'.
"You know, you are rather controlling" Kira commented.
Troy snapped.
Several thorned vines grew on Troy's body. In a flash, they were all launched straight at Lauren in a flurry of sharpness. Thankfully, Lauren's reflexes aided her well, as she was able to dodge each vine and land herself safely next to Ali. Troy was stood next to Kira now.
"Use your electricity! Stun her now" He ordered Kira, who shook her head in response.
"Really? You're giving me orders?" She replied. Troy went to attack her as well but was met with a kick to the head from Lauren's horse, Jester. Lauren sat atop it, wielding a large metal hula hoop in one hand and a heavy looking juggling baton in the other. The thorned villain got himself up and attacked again, but was met with a blow to the head by the baton. As he stumbled backwards, Lauren launched the hoop, which encircled him and knocked him to the ground. Lauren grinned evilly. With a click of her fingers, Dagger was immediately on him, tearing at his abdomen with teeth and claws whilst Troy struggled and screamed. Ali and Kira looked horrified. Ali ran over and slapped Lauren.
"What the hell!" She yelled in her face "Are you trying to kill him?"
Lauren sighed and called back her wolf. Dagger reluctantly complied and slinked back over to his master. The fallen villain groaned, clutching his bleeding at his bleeding stomach. Kira reacted immediately and rushed to his aid. Ali shot Lauren a warning and joined her.
"Troy? Are you okay? Say something! Don't ignore me!" Kira shouted at the injured man. He responded, spitting blood and croaked out an innocent 'help me' before passing out. Everyone's (but Lauren's) breath caught in their throat. They were relieved as the rise and fall of Troy's breath in his chest continued.
"There should be some bandages back where that Riley kid was held, go get them Ali" Kira ordered. She complied and rushed off to get them. Slowly, the dark haired girl by Troy's side turned to Lauren's face.
"As for you, you'd better leave before you cause any more trouble" she spat. It sounded like more of a warning then a threat. The horse lover simply stuck up her nose and rode out of the place.
'I'll show them, I can find these subjects with the use of my horses. I don't need The Renegades, only them' Lauren thought, stroking Jester's nose and glancing at Dagger.
'Yes, only them'
X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X
It had been a month now since Lafayette, or as she was more commonly known now 'Stryke', had joined the team. The Seasons had put finding the test subjects on a temporary hold. Instead, they started focusing on keeping Stryke out of the way of the scientists. Since that day, she started accompanying them on missions under the codename 'Stryke'. She had found temporary residence with Jayden but also worked part time with Lys in the café, as well as training (less harshly) with Bruno and Stevie. She was very sceptical and unsure about joining with them but in all honesty she had no-where else to go. Even so, she kept a very close watch on all four of them. She also rarely fought when on missions, usually just standing behind and watching, maybe occasionally smiling as yet another useless minion was taken down.
Today was another one of those days. Mysteria, Motion, Burnout, Gun Slinger and Stryke had all gathered by a large burning building. Jayden seemed to be itching to get to it.
"Alright! Civilians to save, let's go!" She said, pulling out her guns and aiming to go, but was held back by Motion. Stryke shook her head and sighed.
"We need to go through the plan first" Motion said to her.
"Then you can shoot things" Burnout assured her. They all turned to Mysteria.
"Alright, we'll let Burnout enter first. He can manipulate the flames to create and safe path for the rest of us to enter. Gun Slinger, I want you to scan the rooms, and then shoot the windows to create escape routes. Stryke, I want you to destroy any obstacles that prevent us from movement. Motion and I will handle the civilians. Has everyone got that?"
Everyone nodded.
"Right, then let's go!"
Everyone set the plan into motion. Stryke went first, extracting the bones from her arms (with some pain) and slicing the door in half to gain access to the building. Burnout followed in after, directing the flames away to create an access route for the other three. Mysteria and Stryke headed off in one direction, Motion, Gun Slinger and Burnout the other.
Mysteria found several locked rooms (which Stryke helped her gain entrance to), finding several civilians inside. Despite her attitude, she was able to lead them out of the burning rooms. Motion had also found several terrified civilians. She calmed them all down through the use of her power. Gun Slinger had taken to her job of creating escape routes, choosing suitable windows and, well, destroying them. Burnout kept close by ready for the both of them when they came. Both Mysteria and Motion arrived eventually, bringing the civilians with them.
"What shall I do with them?" The male hero asked the flaming girls in front of him.
"Manipulate the flames; take them down to the entrance. We'll take other routes" Motion ordered him. Burnout complied and took the terrified people down with him. Motion turned to her friend.
"Right then, shall we get out of here?...wait where's Stryke?" she asked. Mysteria whipped round.
"Hey! You looking for Laf? I saw her escaping through a window by the back" Gun Slinger yelled. Mysteria turned back to her.
"Okay then, you found some windows?"
Gun Slinger nodded. All three of them went to the room. Mysteria and Motion stepped back. Gun Slinger then pulled out one of her trademark weapons, aimed and fired at the window. The bullet pierced the glass, shattering it to tiny pieces, making a large and empty gap for them to go through. Mysteria jumped first, creating a long, shadowy rope which she used to abseil down the side of the building. Gun Slinger offered Motion to go first but she refused.
"I can't, you need to go first"
"Oh yeah!"
With that, the expert marksman stepped into the window frame, took a deep breath and back flipped out towards the ground. She landed gracefully on her feet without a hint of pain. Motion took in all the movements then replicated the same move. As she landed, she turned to see only three other people.
"Where's Stryke?" She asked. That's when said subject came running round the corner, panting.
"What happened to you?" Gun Slinger asked. Motion went up and placed a hand on her shoulder, calming her down.
"Tell us" Mysteria said bluntly. Stryke took a deep breath and told them.
Stryke leapt down from the window of the building and landed in the back alley area. She jumped however as an old, croaking voice rang out from the darkness
"I thought I'd find you here 005"
Stryke whipped round, holding up one of the blades on her arm. Out from the shadows, her worst nightmare revealed itself. A demon in a white coat.
"Come now, I don't want to fight, I simply want to bring you back to the lab" he sickeningly assured her. Slowly, the white coated man stepped forward, almost like a predator cornering its prey. Stryke did only what she could in this situation, though she didn't mind considering it was a man she hated. She lashed out her arm, slicing at the man's frail skin. In the confusion she ran round the side of the building, hoping the other four were there.
"Dr Alan was there?" Burnout remarked. Mysteria didn't speak but reacted. She pulled at everyone and got them running fast, away from the building. They couldn't let that man catch them.
He was almost as creepy as The Ringmaster.
X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X
"Hey Flicky! Would you like some gum?" The speedster asked the young boy, just as he was speeding past his room. 'Flicky' shot him a dirty look as if to say 'No way idiot!'. Wally looked disheartened (and a little frightened), so he left the boy alone to read his comics. It wasn't Wally's fault, Flick was just sick of having to chew gum all day while he had scientists poking and taking blood from him. Since their little 'talk' with Black Canary and the others, Flick had taken to holing himself up in his room.
"The league is not sure if we are able to trust you Flick" Black Canary announced softly. She was sat down with the rest of them in the recreation room, in front of the others. All eyes were on Flick.
"Why?" he asked bluntly, but deep down there was a hint of nervousness.
"Because of some startling information that has been found on you" she replied. Turning to the television, she pulled up several images on the screen. Four of these were faces of one old man, two scientists and a young boy. Flick shifted uncomfortably.
"Flick, we have reason to believe you killed these four men…"
"I didn't kill Kiba!" Flick yelled angrily. Everyone looked shocked. The quite little subject hadn't spoken out before. It was certainly unusual and worrying considering what he had just been accused of.
Flick regained his composure but still didn't look happy.
"Flick, did you kill them?" Black Canary asked soothingly, but with concern mixed in. Flick looked up at her, then pointed a finger to the young boy on the screen.
"Kiba was my best friend. We lived on the streets together, eating strawberries, scavenging for water and new places to sleep. He took care of me"
His finger trailed to the old man.
"Then he came along. He beat me and Kiba, but he got it worse. I was hurt but I didn't care because Kiba was alive…then that guy killed him. He meant to kill me but…Kiba put himself in the way…I was so angry…upset…I didn't know what to do…I just lashed out…then he was dead"
Black Canary shook her head. M'gann sniffled, suppressing a tear.
"Flick…"
"Kiba wanted me to help people, that didn't really go to plan"
His finger trailed over to the scientists this time.
"I stowed away on a boat out of Romania, but someone took me to that place. I remember, after getting those powers I was busted out by these guys. I thought I was saved. Next thing I know I'm being cut open and bled into jars. It was painful, but I knew how to get myself out of there…so I controlled them and made them shoot each other" Flick explained, rounding off his story.
Silence filled the room for a long amount of time. Black Canary decided to speak up.
"Flick…you know you just admitted to killing three people"
"IT WAS SELF DEFENCE" he yelled. With that, the 13 year old stormed out of the room. No-one had gone after him.
Flick suddenly heard a couple voices outside his door. He snuck over to the door and decided to listen. He could hear two female voices, which sounded like M'gann and Zatanna.
"We need to do something about Flick" Zatanna noted.
"Well, we have to help him. He's not happy, that's for sure" M'gann said sadly.
"He always looks so happy when he's sleeping though, with all his strange ink monsters sleeping around him"
"But I've heard him screaming in the middle of the night. When I go to comfort him, he just denies it, shoves me out and goes back to sleep. Superboy doesn't bother helping him; Flick doesn't seem to like him
"We need to make him happy somehow…wait, I have an idea!"
"What is it?"
Zatanna held out her hands, bowl of strawberries
"Seirrebwarts fo lwob!" she casted. M'gann smiled.
"That will do it"
Flick jumped back to his bed and picked up a comic as he heard someone approaching his room. However, he lit up as he saw Zatanna enter the room with a bowl of strawberries for him.
"You did say you and Kiba liked to eat strawberries"
For the first time in ages, Flick properly smiled.
X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X—X
Seether brushed off some dust from the beside counter and sighed. He and Riley had been travelling together for some time now. They had both gotten very close; you could even call them lovers. They both spent their time together trying to stay undercover, hiding from the scientists, The Renegades and whoever else might be after them. Even so, Seether always tried to find the best motels and inns for Riley to sleep in. He wanted his precious Riley to still enjoy his life. However, he had sort of failed this time round, scoring a room in a dusty old run down motel. The wolf boy turned to the red haired teen lying on the bed.
"Do you like the room Riley? I know I couldn't get the best this time, but I'm a little skint on money right now" he said to his companion. Riley nodded sheepishly.
"It's okay…"
"Just okay?" Seether asked him tensely. Riley picked up on this and hugged him.
"It's fine! It's perfect, as long as you're here with me Seether" he said in his soft little voice. Riley tilted his head up to the older teen. Seether chuckled.
"Riley, you are so damn cute sometimes"
With that, he leaned down slowly and placed a soft, but loving kiss on Riley's sweet lips. The red haired teen blushed instantly but leaned in and held on to the kiss for a little while longer. After some time they both had to pull away for air. Both the men looked at each for a few moments before Seether pulled away and began to strip of his clothing. Riley blushed slightly but kept calm. After throwing off his clothes, Seether shifted into a large, dark wolf and lay down on the bed. Riley smiled and lay down too, resting his head on the wolf's strong abdomen. However, Riley just couldn't get settle, as he heard a strange but familiar sound of a horses hooves on concrete. The wolf could sense his discomfort and so got up to check out the window.
The two young men were met with a familiar two sets of eyes. From below, they looked straight into the eyes of an almost innocent young person and their animal companion. Likewise, they were met with the same. The only reason Riley shuddered as he saw the stranger was because of the tattoo visible on their shoulder.
The tattoo of an arrow.
Well there you have it! A dramatic story for the Renegades and Seasons, a sad little story for Flick, a loving little piece for Riley and Seether and a cliff-hanger to finish it all off!
Wait and see to find out what will happen next!