Disclaimer: I do not own JLU or DP.
Last time we were left off with Dani Phantom coming into the DC universe, and now she's about to go toe-to-toe with none other than Wonder Woman.
Before we begin though, I would like to thank you all of viewing this story. Over 6850! WOW thank you. Also your comments are always appreciated.
Now... MORTAL KOMBAT!... sort of?
Beacon of Justice
In-between Chapter 4
Watchtower: training room
Wonder Woman made her way to the center of the room. The Amazon slowly rolled her head in circles to loosen the muscles in her neck. After taking a deep breath, she turned to meet the gaze of Danielle, or her preferred name: Dani, Fenton. No more than ten minutes ago, Diana had challenged the visitor from another universe to a fight. At first this took Dani by surprise, but after seeing Rachel Robertson's excited smile and nod of reassurance, the raven-haired woman happily accepted.
"So," Dani began, loosening her shoulders, "Any special rules in this bout I need to be aware of?"
Wonder Woman eyed Dani thoughtfully for a moment, before shrugging. "I suppose just go until someone submits or can physically continue no longer."
Dani gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Simple enough," but then her smile faded as she moved her eyes throughout the entire training room. "I hope this place can take it." She turned back to the warrior princess. "I mean I don't want to rip a hole in your space station."
The Amazon merely smirked at her comment. "Oh, don't you worry. This training facility is more than capable."
Right as Diana finished talking, a voice spoke over the intercom. "Alright, you ladies ready?" came Superman's voice.
"Ready." The Amazon kept her eyes trained on Dani as she gave her simple reply.
Dani, on the other hand, turned her eyes up to the control room. "I'm good to go." She announced with a grin while giving Superman the thumbs-up.
Up in the control room with the Man of Steel were the other Leaguers present during the conversation in main hall. All of them were waiting eagerly for the match to start. There was no mistaking the excitement in the atmosphere.
"So GL," Flash turned to his friend while throwing pieces of popcorn into his mouth, "Who'd you think's gonna win this one?"
The Lantern raised a curious brow. "Is that even a question? You've seen how Diana fights." He turned to look at the warrior princess below. "Besides, she's been training since she was born."
"Hmm, maybe," Flash inquired, "but I don't know, I think I might have to go with the wild card here."
"You have that much confidence in her?" questioned J'onn, "despite the fact that you two barely know each other?"
Flash turned to the Martian before shrugging, as well as continuing to eat his snack. "I'm just saying," the speedster answered, "Dani is Rachel's mentor after all. That has to count for something, right Rach?"
The Halfa, who was still in her ghost form, blinked for a second before taking her eyes off the training room. "What? Oh yeah sure." She answered dismissively. Her mind was so focused on the two below that she could barely register what Flash had asked her.
It had been a little over a year since Rachel had last seen Dani, and so finding her in Central City had been beyond jubilation for her. Now she was going to able to see her old friend go up against one of this world's most powerful women all in the same day. The Halfa felt chills crawl onto her skin as she waited with anticipation.
Floating leisurely in place to Rachel's left was Echo, the miniature robot that the Halfa had reactivated when Dani had arrived in the Watchtower. Echo simply fixed his gaze downwards, completely expressionless, patiently waiting for the bout to start. While standing on her own two feet to Rachel's left was Kara, the blonde Kryptonian was on the near same level of excitement as her girlfriend, but mainly because she had no idea what she was expecting.
Over at the control panel, Superman had finished typing the codes for the training room. "Alright, starting hard-light generator." He spoke into the microphone again. "Try not to break anything will you?"
The two women didn't answer as the loud whirring sound began to erupt inside the training room. Dani looked away from Wonder Woman and gazed at the streaks of white light that began to envelope the room. When the lights disappeared, they were standing in the middle of an intersection of a deserted metropolitan city.
"Hard-light constructs in this confined of a space." Dani commented as she turned back to Wonder Woman. "Now that is neat."
Wonder Woman grinned at her. "I'm pleased to see you're impressed." Then she shifted into a fighting stance. "Now shall we?"
"Ready when you are." Dani answered with a grin of her own, before moving into a fighting stance as well.
As they stood before each other, the silence in the air was so apparent that the entire space station might as well have been empty. The only thing that the combatants and audience could hear was that low, annoying pitch whenever anything becomes too quiet.
After standing in place for what seemed like forever, Dani aimed a straight punch at Wonder Woman at near break-neck speed. The Amazon reacted instinctively and blocked the simple attack with her wrist, but she had no time to think as she jerked her head back to avoid Dani's left cross, and again to avoid an uppercut. The woman's relentlessness admittedly caught Diana by surprise, Dani was throwing punches, as well as jabs left and right, giving her little or no room for any sort of counterattack. The Amazon quickly learned she'd either need to get some distance right away, or this will become very one-sided very quickly. Deciding to take a gamble, Diana threw a straight punch at Dani's chest, and fortunately for the princess it was able to connect. The downside was it left her face open for Dani's balled up fist to collide with her cheek, causing tiny dots spark into her vision.
The forces of the two women's attacks were enough to make them both grunt loudly and stumble backwards. Wonder Woman was first to recover and she sped towards Dani with her fist cocked back. Dani shifted her body to the side with just enough room for the Amazon to zoom past her. She then added to Diana's momentum by shoving her with the sole of her foot.
Diana regained her balance as quick as she could and spun around just in time to push Dani's straight punch away from her face. The Amazon retaliated with a right cross, but it was blocked by Dani's left forearm. Then shifting her weight, Dani swung her right leg, and aimed it at Diana's temple. Diana drew back her hands and caught her ankle it made contact with her face.
After tightening her grip on Dani's ankle, Diana effortlessly threw Dani over her shoulder, and down the road, where she crashed several yards away.
Up in the control room, the silence was finally broken.
"Whoa!" Flash exclaimed at the spectacle below. "Dani is starting off with absolute authority."
"Yeah?" Green Lantern countered, "Then she got tossed around like a rag-doll."
Flash turned and glared at Lantern. "Hey, that was nothin'! There's still a lot of fighting left."
Dani shook her head to clear it. When her vision completely worked again, the woman looked up to see Wonder Woman landing before her, with hands on hips, and a smirk that was full of bravado.
"Had enough?" She teased.
Dani slowly got back to her feet, wincing as she felt her stiff joints pop. Although other than that, her crash didn't seem to have left her with any physical injury. Not even a speck of dust had gotten onto her clothes. "Are you kidding?" She questioned. "I'm just getting started."
"That's what I like to hear." Diana replied. "Show me what you got."
Dani smirked devilishly at the Amazon. "Oh, don't worry," she assured in a dark tone before returned to her fighting stance, "I will."
Diana raised an eyebrow, but then she narrowed her eyes when she felt goosebumps pop onto her skin. The overall temperature in her immediate area seems to have dropped ten degrees. The Amazon quickly hopped backwards to distance herself from Dani, and resumed her fight stance. Is she about to...?
Slowly, Dani closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she reopened them, her irises flashed, changing from blue to bright-green. A split second later, a white ring appeared around her waist, and began to split off into two directions. Diana keep her eyes fixed on Dani as her form began to change. She was now wearing a long-sleeved bodysuit that left an opening for her midriff. On her chest was a white logo in a combination of the letters D and P. Right below her logo was a silver strip that began at her right shoulder and extended across her chest to the left side of her waist. The strip circled back up across the back of her outfit to meet her right shoulder again. From the top of the silver strip, her right sleeve was also silver. On her right hand she wore a black glove that stretched passed her elbow. While her left sleeve was black, and the glove was silver. Her pants were curve-cut and had large, sliver shapes that extended down the side of her legs and wrapped around the ankle of her pant-legs. On her feet was a pair of silver boots.
Dani's beanie was now gone, and her completely visible hair was now snow-white. Seeing Dani in her ghost-form brought a smirk to Diana's face. Now the real fight begins.
Over at the control room, Rachel felt a smile creep up on her face. She has long since grown accustomed to a Halfa changing from one form to another, but it's been so long since she's actually seen another person do it. From behind her, Flash let out a long whistle, and said with a wide grin. "Talk about making an entrance. This is so exciting."
"So Dani put up a light-show." jabbed Lantern. "Let's focus on how she really fights."
Over to Rachel's right, Kara noticed something that sparked her curiosity. "Hey Rach?"
"Hm?" the Halfa turned to her girlfriend.
"What does the 'DP' stand for?" The other Leaguers turned in Rachel's direction, eager to hear her explanation.
"Well, it stands for 'Danielle Phantom'." said Rachel. "It's like her superhero name."
After several sounds of 'oh', Superman spoke up. "So her real name is Fenton, but her other name is Phantom?"
"That's not very creative..." Green Lantern chimed in.
Rachel chuckled at Lantern's comment. "If you think that's bad, her cousin's name is nearly identical."
"Wait, her cousin?" Kara blurted out.
Rachel smiled at the blond Kryptonian. "Yeah,'DP' is actually a homage to her cousin: Danny Phantom."
Kara blinked in shock. Her eyes met Clark's for brief moment, but then just as quickly, they turned away from each other. Kara's mind immediately brought her back to her previous conversation with the older Halfa. She then realized that her advice was more personal than she give them credit for.
Dani stood upright and raised her arm. A blast of green energy shot out from her palm and straight towards Wonder Woman. The Amazon reacted a little later than usual but still managed to block the shot with her bracelets, but she didn't anticipate that the blast would cause to her skid down the road, nor did she expect her arms to tingle painfully from the attack.
Diana moved her forearms out of her face, only to have enough time to gasp before Dani's fist smacked her right across her face. This time it actually made her cry out in pain. The older Halfa then quickly clocked the Amazon a second time, causing her head to violently whip to the other side, before hitting her a third time. With a short grunt, Dani sent an uppercut right in the center of Diana's jaw. Then, utilizing the momentum from the attack; the older Halfa planted her palms on the ground, and punted the princess in the gut with her feet, causing Diana to sail high into the air. Right as she slowed down, Dani was right there to thrust her knee into Diana's midsection. The Amazon gasp for air as pain shot through her body. However Dani wasn't finished. She grabbed Diana's arms and rabidly spun in place, gathering speed with each rotation, before releasing her. Diana soared through the air, completely disorientated, until she smashed through the window of a skyscraper, and skipped across the office floor like a flat stone on water.
Dani flew through to the hole that Diana had just created and began to survey the inside.
Ponk!
"Ow!" Dani yelped, as she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. Then from seemingly out of nowhere, Diana charged at Dani, and tackled her out of the building, sending them both tumbling towards the ground at near-terminal velocity.
As the two women fell, Dani struggled to escape from Diana's grasp, but her hold around her back was unyielding. Seeing no other option, the Halfa shifted out of her corporeal form, and almost immediately slipped out of the Amazon's grasp. Diana blinked when she realized that Dani had just phased past her body. Although this did little to shake her out of her poise, while her momentum still carried her downward, Diana whipped her body around and threw her lasso upwards. Dani realized what she was up to a split second too late. The lasso went taut around her ankles, and she felt herself being jerked downwards again. Diana landed hard her on her feet, the impact shook the ground a bit but did nothing to her. The Amazon yanked on her lasso and swung hard, using the momentum gathered to smack Dani onto the road. The slam caused the road to shatter and managed to create a shallow but large crater. Deciding not to give Dani any breathing room, Diana swung her lasso again, causing Dani to scrape along the side of the building, before finally smashing her face into a lamp post.
Dani fell to the ground, grimacing as she felt her body throb in pain. When her head stopped spinning, she looked up to see Wonder Woman standing over her, still having a firm grip on the lasso. Dani slowly propped herself up onto her hands and knees. That's when she realized that the rope was still taut around her ankles.
The Halfa sighed. "For someone who hasn't fought ghosts very often, you sure know a lot."
"I've been observing Rachel for over a year," Diana replied, "I have a fair knowledge of the basics, and seeing as you're her mentor, there must be similarities in both of your fighting styles."
"Makes sense." Dani rubbed the back of her head, and winced sharply when she felt the sore spot. "By the way, what'd you hit me with?"
In answer, the Amazon pointed to the lone star on her tiara. "This is more than just for looks."
"Huh, well it did feel small."
Dani leisurely floated herself off the ground until she was about a head higher than Diana. The latter narrowed her eyes before hurriedly dropping her weight and putting two hands on her lasso.
"You know," Dani began with a smirk, "I could just phase my legs out of this, but you said you knew the basics. So I might as well change it up a little." As Dani finished her sentence, the Halfa's legs shifted into a wisp that flapped around like some sort of ghostly tail.
"What the-?" Diana cried out as she watched the end of her lasso fall to the ground, where the excess rope coiled around like a large thin snake. Then in a flash, she was sent tumbling through down the city block. The Amazon quickly used her momentum to roll backwards onto her feet, but didn't see Dani zoom in and punch her into the air with an uppercut. The Halfa followed Diana at break-neck speeds, and aimed a straight punch at the Amazon's face when she finally began to stall. On pure instinct Diana caught her wrist and threw a punch of her own. It landed squarely on Dani's cheek, making her grunt loudly in agony. The Amazon followed with two more punches before Dani had recovered enough and caught her wrist by her bracelet. For a moment the two women just floated on the spot, gritting their teeth and glaring into each other's eyes as they tried to overpower one another.
Diana's superior strength was beginning to win out and she was slowly pushing Dani back. The Amazon was so focused on overpowering her opponent that she didn't see the hand holding her bracelet had begun to glow. A split second passed and Diana felt massive jolts surge through her entire body. She yelled and instantly released her grip on Dani's wrist. The Halfa placed her hands in front of Diana's chest and shot a pair of energy blasts at point-blank range.
Diana whipped through the air again and crashed right into the brick wall of a building. Her body sunk in slightly, and created the near perfect outline her body made in the wall. She blinked and noticed Dani heading right towards her with her fist wound back. The entire building seemed to shake as Diana managed to stop Dani's punch inches from her face. With a heave, Diana drove Dani's fist into her own face and followed with a vicious knee into the Halfa's midsection. Dani made a sickening noise as Diana grabbed her shoulders and whipped her into the side of the building. With a firm pin on one of Dani's shoulders, Diana drew her fist and prepared to drive it right between Dani's eyes. Dani deduced Diana's plan and hastily grabbed the Amazon's other wrist. The two women both turned intangible and phased through the building, where they crashed onto the floor inside.
Dani and Diana tumbled across the room as they both tried to gain the advantage over the other. Then finally, Diana managed to separate herself from Dani by pushing her with two feet. The Halfa stumbled slightly backwards while the Amazon got back to her feet as fast as her body would allow her. Diana couldn't stop her body from shivering nor could she stop herself from taking short, ragged breaths. She felt like she was just submerged in water that was at subzero temperatures. Dani watched her squirm and expressed a slight smirk. The Half rushed forward and threw another punch at Diana's face. The Amazon managed block the attack by raising her left arm. She then grabbed the front of Dani's outfit, and pulled the Halfa close enough to slam her tiara against her forehead. Dani yelped in pain as she fell onto her back, holding the spot that just got hit. Diana wasted no time. She knelt down on top of Dani and punched her across the face. She immediately went in for another, but this time Dani was able to shift her body to the side, and firmly wrapped Diana's arm with both of her own. The Halfa then proceeded to encircle Diana's neck with her legs, and finally arched her back to apply pressure. Diana struggled to escape the triangle hold, but every second was becoming more and more painful and she was starting to feel lightheaded. The Amazon was eventually successful at tucking her chin to prevent further constriction. Now out of immediate danger of loss of consciousness, Diana grabbed Dani again and slowly got back to her feet. Diana lifted Dani higher over her head, and brought the Halfa down hard onto the floor, shattering the tiles. Pain shot through Dani's back and traveled throughout her body as she felt Diana slip from her grasp. The Halfa performed a rising handspring that turned into a propelled kick. She managed to hit Diana in the jaw, causing the Amazon to stumble back slightly. After landing on her feet, Dani dove towards Diana and wrapped her arms tight around her body. The two of them crashed through the window, and tumbled rabidly towards the ground. They continued to struggle and squirm against each other. Diana tore herself from Dani's arms, and used the opening to push the Halfa away with her legs. The change in velocity sent both women off course, and within a span of a few seconds, they crashed into opposite ends of the street.
When the dust finally settled, Diana crawled out from the rubble. Her body covered with light scuff marks, and there was a decently sized bruise on her left forearm. The Amazon painstakingly made her way back to the surface, and spotted the crater on the other end of the road. Slowly, Diana clutched onto the bruise on her arm, and dragged her heavy feet as she walked down the road. The Amazon took a moment to reflect upon this entire bout. Practically from birth, Diana had been training amongst the most hardened warriors in entire the world. She'd fought and brought down many foes ranging from the common criminals to mighty beasts, to aliens and even omnipotent beings. However, with all that said and done, Dani Fenton had been by far one of the toughest opponents she'd ever faced in combat. Therefore Diana thanked the Gods that the Halfa hadn't demonstrated any hostile actions against the League.
The last of the dust had finally disappeared when Diana reached the crater. The Amazon's eyes bulged when she realized that it was empty. Instinctively she put herself into high alert and began to survey the area, trying to deduce where the Halfa had gone to. Diana couldn't help but be angry at herself for failing to maintain her sight on her opponent. How could such a warrior forget the simplest of basics? The Amazon had only finished mentally scolding herself when a low hum followed by a green light from her left side made her turn her head. She gasped slightly when she realized she was staring into a bright-green sphere of swirling energy mere inches from her face. Diana's every instinct told her to move out of the way, but her muscles were refusing to obey her brain's commands.
Diana's eyes shifted focus, and from behind the small energy sphere stood Dani, with her arm raised, and scuff marks over her body and clothes. Diana's shocked expression slowly disappeared and the Amazon just stared plainly into Dani's bright green irises with her icy blue ones. Dani's determined look remained unchanged as she slowly curled her fingers inward into a fist, extinguishing her energy. The Halfa remained indifferent as she closed the distance between her and the Amazon. Dani slowly stretched out her right hand and held it there. Diana's eye moved astonishingly from Dani's hand to her eyes, before curling her lips into a smile and accepting it with her own. As their hands shook, Dani returned Diana's smile as her white rings made a reappearance and she changed back into a human again.
"YEAH!" Flash pumped both arms in the air, throwing the now empty popcorn carton across the control room. He turned to Lantern with the brightest of smirks, and held out his hand expectantly. "Pay up! Sucka!"
"Yeah, yeah." Lantern replied, annoyed at the speedster. "Remind me later."
"Oh don't you worry, I won't forget."
Over at the front of the control room, Kara stared at Dani and Diana with wide eyes. "W-wow."
"I know," said Rachel, "that was breathtaking." The Halfa turned on her heels, and made her way out of the room. "Come on." she waved at the others. Echo floated out of the room without a moment's hesitation. Shortly after, the other Leaguers walked out of the room.
As the group of heroes walked into the training to rejoin the two women, Cujo ran up to Dani and leapt into her arms, barking with full enthusiasm.
"You two was amazing!" Rachel exclaimed as she gave both Diana and Dani a hug. Both women winced when the younger Halfa made contact with their sore bodies.
"You really had us on the edges of our seats." Supergirl commented.
"No doubt about that." Flash said with a wide grin. "And I won the bet."
"Big deal, so you guessed right." Green Lantern retorted. Then he turned to the two women. "Although I will say that you two were something."
"I needed Dani to show me her full skills." Diana explained. Then she turned to the older Halfa. "Though I would admit it got more…intense towards the end."
Dani looked at the Amazon with a sad smile. "Sorry, I guess I got lost in the moment."
"Your apology is unnecessary." Diana assured. Taking a look at her arm, she noticed that the bruise on her arm had already begun to fade.
"Do you need medical attention though?" Flash asked Dani. "You took quite a wallop too during the fight."
Dani studied Flash for a moment before answering. "No, I'm good. Thanks." She then turned to Diana. "But that's not to say you didn't put up a good fight, Wonder Woman, because you did great."
The Amazon smiled at the older Halfa. "Thank you. I must say you have definitely been a worthy opponent, and please, call me Diana."
Dani beamed at the founding Leaguer. "Thanks Diana. That's very kind of you."
Right as she finished, Cujo yelped happily and put his tongue to Dani's face, which gained several "Aw's" as well as groans of disgust.
While the heroes continued to talk amongst themselves regarding the fight, at the back of the group Batman turned on his heels and silently made his way out of the training room. Based on everything he'd seen so far, he needed to go review the tape.
"So Dani," Green Lantern's voice brought the Halfa's attentions to him. "You've seen the training room so far, how about we give you a grand tour of the place."
At these words, a giant grin appeared on Flash's face and he blurred in between Dani and GL. "That's a great idea." The speedster said rapidly. "I'll gladly be the tour guide."
"Um, actually," Dani began in a somewhat awkward tone, "I have to get going."
"What?!" Flash and Rachel blurted out at the exact same time, and in the exact same surprised tone.
"B-But you just got here?" Rachel argued.
"I know, and I'm sorry," replied her old mentor, "but we're still rebuilding back home, and I still have a lot of responsibilities. Don't you worry though, I'll be sure…"
Before she could continue, Superman spoke up again. "Sorry," he reluctantly interrupted as he turned to his fellow Leaguers, "uh, guys. Why don't we give them some privacy?" Nearly everyone nodded and began to head towards the exit.
"Well, it was nice meeting you." Flash said to Dani with disappointed expression. Then the speedster held out his hand.
Dani moved her eyes from Flash's face to his hand. She was slightly wary of what she could be getting herself into, but nevertheless, she accepting it. "It was… nice to meet you too." The handshake this time was gentle. A small grin appeared on Flash's face, before he let go of Dani's hand and exited the room.
When the door was closed, Kara turned to Rachel.
"I'll be right outside, okay?" she announced softly.
Rachel smiled at her girlfriend, and then reached over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Okay." She replied simply.
Kara beamed at the Halfa. Then like the Leaguers before her, she left the room, leaving Rachel with her fellow Guardians from another universe.
"She's a good one." Dani complimented.
Even though Rachel felt her cheeks grow hot, her smile was absolutely radiant as she stared at the door that Kara had just walked through. "She's great." Then she turned back to her old mentor. "Now what were you going to say?"
"Oh yeah, I was going to say that you now have Echo here with you. I'll be sure to visit as often as I can."
Although Dani had said more, her first statement sparked a recent memory in Rachel's mind. Then as if sharing a mental connection, the younger Halfa and the miniature robot's eyes met at exactly the same time.
Earlier
The two reunited companions were just about to walk through the door to the records room when Echo's synthetic voice sounded out loud.
"Rachel, before we advance any further, there is an important matter I wish to discuss with you."
"Oh?" Rachel replied curiously. "Like what?"
"Robin's last message addressed to you."
This brought Rachel abruptly to a halt, and the Halfa turned to the robot with disbelieving eyes.
"He left the file in my databanks available upon request."Echo informed her. "Would you like me to access it at this time?"
Rachel looked away and bit her lower lip. This was yet another surprise that had caught her completely off-guard, but now that it's been brought up…
"No." She answered. "Not right now."
"Very well," Echo acknowledged, "I shall keep it within my databanks until you are ready."
Rachel nodded and they continued down the hallway before finally entering the record room.
Present
"There's one last thing." Dani spoke again, snapping Rachel out of her flashback.
Dani reached into the pocket of her hoodie again. Cujo took this simple movement as a cue and hopped out of his owner's arms. Although instead of landing on the ground, this time the ghost dog simply floated in the air right next to Dani's head. The older Halfa pulled out small, black, rectangular object and held it out to Rachel.
"My badge?" she recognized.
"Yep," confirmed the older Halfa, "I think it's only right that you get it back."
The younger Halfa slowly reached for the thing with wide eyes. It was about the size of a wallet, made of soft, black leather. In the direct center was a shiny gold emblem of a pair of feathered wings attached to a circular shield. Immediately behind the shield were two crossed swords with their tips pointed downward at perfect 45 degree angles. Rachel observed more closely, and studied the four small words that were each etched in circular angles. The combination of these made another, smaller circle on the shield.
Custos
Κηδεμόνας
Gardisto
Vormund
When the leather made contact with Rachel's gloved hand, there was an unexpected, warm feeling behind it. As if the inanimate object somehow knew that it had just been reunited with its owner. Rachel sighed and locked eyes with Dani again. "Thanks." She said before stowing the item into the pocket of her jacket.
"There's no need for that. It's always been yours anyway." Dani told her. "And actually there've been some upgrades added to it." Rachel pulled out her badge again and opened it like a small book. The inside was bare save for the simple black, reflective screen attached to the right side.
"A new communicator was put in there. " Dani explained. "If you ever need my help, just speak into it and I'll be here as soon as I can."
Rachel nodded in understanding and stowed the badge in her pocket again. Dani reached into her pocket again and pulled out the Infi-map. The older Halfa then unrolled the scroll and pressed on a point of the map with her index finger. Instantly, there was a flash of bright blue light, Rachel closed her eyes to shield them from the intensity. When she reopened them, she saw an oval-shaped portal had appeared behind Dani. Beyond the portal were millions of tiny bright dots, like flickering stars in an ever expanding universe.
"So," Dani's voice caught her attention again, "see you later?"
"Wait a second." Rachel requested. Her eyes fell downwards slightly as so many thoughts raced through her mind. Once she managed to put them together, she gazed up again. "You're not gonna ask me to come back with you? You're not going to appeal to my sense of duty or anything like that?"
Dani stared at Rachel a few seconds, before slowly reaching out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Rach," began the older Halfa slowly, "I was never going to ask. You were always free to go to where your heart wanted you to go, but I will tell you this." She put her other hand on Rachel's other shoulder and bent over slightly until their eyes were at the same level. "I've watched you grow for the past ten years, and you have grown into a spectacular young woman. For that I will always be proud of you."
Rachel felt her eyes fill with tears and her vision become slightly blurred. She expressed the biggest smile her facial muscles could manage and flung her arms around Dani. The two Halfas shared a loving embrace for what seemed like an eternity before a loud yelp separated them.
The pair broke apart and immediately Cujo flew up to Rachel's face and licked the entire right side of her face with his flat tongue.
"Aw, I'll miss you too, Cujo. The younger Halfa said while she patted the puppy's head.
Cujo barked happily as he took one last look at the Halfa. Then the ghost dog turned on the spot, and flew straight towards the portal, where he disappeared as soon as he crossed its threshold.
Dani turned away from the portal to look at Rachel and Echo. The latter was still floating directly beside Rachel's left.
"You two take care of each other." Dani directed.
"We will." The younger Halfa replied immediately.
"Affirmative." Echo responded.
The three of them exchanged one last smile. Then the Dani made her way towards the portal. There was another flash of light, and Rachel found herself in the training room with Echo.
The two Guardians made their way out of the training room. Upon reaching the hall, they found Kara leaning against the wall with her hands behind her back. When the Kryptonian saw them, she immediately stood upright and walked towards them.
An idea sprang into Rachel's mind and she turned to her robotic friend. "Echo, why don't you go find J'onn in the monitor room and see if he needs any help?"
Echo studied her for a second before answering. "Yes, it would provide me with the opportunity to start my new duties here on the Watchtower."
"Cool, see ya later."
"Indeed." With that Echo starting to fly further down the hall, and eventually past Kara. "Supergirl." He greeted without looking at her.
"Hey." She replied.
When the two girls met up, Kara immediately asked. "So how was it?"
Rachel reached for Kara's hand and started to pull her along the hallway. "It was a lot easier than I'd thought it'd be." She admitted. "And she said she'd come visit as often as she can."
After a few minutes of walking hand in hand, they stopped at a large window with a clear view of the Earth below. This was the very spot they stopped at when they first set foot on the new Watchtower. Rachel turned around and sat on the guardrail while Kara simply leaned her weight against it.
Kara flipped open Rachel's badge and stared at the blank, black screen. Curious, the Kryptonian tapped the screen with her index finger. As soon as her gloved hand made contact with the screen, there was a honking noise as the surface illuminated, and a bright red 'X' enclosed in a square flashed in the screen.
Rachel chuckled slightly before gently taking the badge back. "Here." She reassured. "It just needs my DNA signature."
Rachel folded the cover behind the screen and held the badge parallel to her right eye. A bright, white, beam of light from the center of the screen shone directly into Rachel's pupil. The beam then began to fan out and scanned the entire surface of the Halfa's eye. A friendly beeping sound was heard as the light disappeared, and Rachel handed her badge back to Kara.
The blond Kryptonian was now staring at two side-by-side, head-shot pictures of Rachel in her human and ghost forms. In both pictures, the Halfa expressed a friendly smile that perfectly reflected her gentle personality. While her eyes were giving off an aura of fierceness that Kara had seen many times on a mission. The pictures of Rachel were hardly any different than the real thing, but one thing did stand out.
"Were these taken before your scar?" Kara asked, looking back at the Halfa.
Rachel's face fell. "Yeah," she confirmed. "It was about two years ago."
Kara turned back to the screen. Directly next to the pictures was a list of the basic information, such as her full name, hair and eye color, as well as her day of birth. Kara then swiped the screen to the side with her thumb.
"Awards and accommodations," she read in a mumble, "Certifications, and… Hey! What's this?"
Rachel jerked her head and saw Kara's eyes go wide and her lips had curled into a smug smirk. The Halfa felt her cheeks get hot as she swallowed nervously.
"Disciplinary infractions?" Kara's eyes moved frantically throughout the screen, and were getting wider with each passing second. Finally she turned back to Rachel. "You were a little trouble maker!"
Rachel's cheeks had now turned maroon. She quickly jerked her badge out of Kara's hand and stuffed it back in her pocket. "Fine, I'll admit I did do a few things that upset the higher-ups when I was younger."
Kara giggled at her girlfriend's behavior, and then put a hand on the Halfa's thigh. "Rach, don't worry about it. You turned out okay."
Rachel's blush faded slightly at Kara's words. "Thanks, I had a lot of guidance along the way. So that helped a lot."
Kara nodded as she figured out Rachel's meaning. "Dani does seem like a nice person." She admitted.
"She's very nice." Rachel agreed, turning to look out the window. "Having her as a mentor was one of the best things that ever happened to me."
"Yeah, I could tell," said Kara, "She's powerful, smart, and brave." Then she smirked again. "So what other teachers did you have a crush on?"
At these words, Rachel turned and smirked like Kara did. "I'm not gonna tell," she teased softly. She then got off the rail, took both of Kara's hands in her own, and held their interlaced fingers up in-between them. "Besides," Rachel continued, "now my heart belongs to someone else," Kara blinked once and smiled. "although I will admit sometimes she can be a bit of a bother."
"Hey!"
Rachel laughed. "Oh relax, Kara. You know I was kidding." With that said, the Halfa slowly leaned closer. Both girls shut their eyes as their lips were inches from connecting.
CHUMP
Everything stopped when from out of nowhere, the lights in the hallway turned off, filling the place with almost complete darkness. The only sources of light were the ones that reflected off the Earth and into parts of the tower.
"Ah!" Kara yelled in surprise. Along various parts of the station, other distance yells could also be heard.
Rachel breathed a slow sigh before screaming at the top of her lungs.
"EEEECCCHHHHOOOO!"
"Stand by."
Another Universe
The light that bounced off the ice covered walls gave the room a light bluish hue. The metal crates that were stacked two high made the place feel more cramped than it really was. Everything seemed to be undisturbed, that was until the bright oval-shaped portal appeared from out of nowhere. A split second later, Cujo burst out of the portal and began to sprint out of the ice-covered room in rabid happiness. Not long after, Dani emerged from the portal. An average person would have instantly started shivering at the drop in temperature, but the Halfa had been used to this climate for many years.
Dani ran a hand through her hair. After her whole adventure to another universe, she wanted nothing more than to just lie down and take a nice nap. She gasped when she felt a sharp chill down her spine, and a split second later, she saw the bright-blue wisp of her ghost sense escape her mouth.
"So, she didn't want to come back huh?" a woman's voice sounded from her right. Dani turned to that side, and eased up a little once she saw who it was.
Sitting on top of two crates was a pale-skinned young woman with bright green eyes, and purple lipstick. She had a black choker around her neck, wore a black leather vest with a tank top underneath that exposed her midriff. She had one long glove that covered most of her right arm. She wore of a silver belt, skintight, black leather pants. Lastly on her feet were a pair of silver, knee-high, flat-heeled, tactical boots with skull decals.
The most interesting thing about this woman was undoubtedly her hair. She had long, teal hair tied into a ponytail at the top of her head, with two locks framing her face. Her ponytail seemed to flicker on its own accord, mimicking the movement of fire.
"No," Dani answered her. "Her heart's in a different place now."
"That's so?" asked Ember McLain. "Well, that's her choice." She didn't look at Dani as she continued to tune the long handled, flame-shaped guitar that rested in front of her. After strumming the last cord, Ember slung her guitar behind her back, and hopped of the grates to join the Halfa.
"So what's it like over there?" she asked as they walked out of the room and into a long stretch of ice-laden hallway. "and… Is she okay?" Ember's face fell with concern.
"Everything's completely different," Dani reported. "There's nothing but clouds in the sky, but here's the kicker: that world has a plethora of superpowered beings, and they all band together to protect the world."
"So, it's filled with superheroes?" Ember deduced.
"Exactly, and Rach is-"
The two women stopped in their tracks when the metal door in front of them opened. Standing directly in from of them was an African-American woman with short black hair, and dark green eyes. Unlike the other two, who seemed to be dressed in street-level clothes, this woman wore a red and black-striped armored suit.
The woman's eyes found Dani and her lips curled up into a bright smile. "Hey, Dani. Good to see you're back."
"Hey, Val." The Halfa replied.
"So, I take it Rach didn't want to come back."
"Well, judging from how she isn't here." Ember began with a slight tone. "I think you hit the nail right on the head, Red."
"Ha ha, very funny Ember." Valerie replied with an eye roll. Then she turned her attention back to Dani. "How is she?"
"She's fine. She's better, much better than I thought. " Dani answered, look at both of them. "She's surrounded herself with a group of very friendly and powerful people. She's been working hard to protect that world on a daily basis, and she's even got a new girlfriend."
Ember and Valerie exchanged prideful smiles. "That's our girl alright." Valerie boasted.
"Of course, we all had a hand in training her." Ember replied, "Were you expecting anything different?"
Valerie chuckled before turning back to Dani. "I know you just got back," Dani frowned at her statement, completely not liking where this was going, "but the council is just about to start their meeting. You wouldn't want to be late."
Dani breathed a tone that resembled a mixture of a groan and a sigh. She was exhausted, sore, and wanted to do nothing but relax for a few hours, but NO. She'd been back less than five minutes and had to work again. This is going to be nothing short of a test of will.
"No, I wouldn't." she muttered before she started down the hallway again, leaving Valerie and Ember behind.
What'd you all think?
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See you all next time.