18 July 2010, Happy Harbour
The Team flew around Happy Harbour for a bit, each of them performing tricks, telling each other about themselves and generally just bonding in a sort of jolted & awkward fashion. By the time lunchtime had rolled around (signalled by Wally's rumbling stomach), Red Tornado contacted them with something a little more interesting than the speedster's alphabetised snack collection. "Red Tornado to Ms Martian" The android's voice came over the intercom. "An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbour Power Plant. I suggest you investigate, covertly. I'm sending co-ordinates"
"…Received" M'gann replied as the co-ordinates popped up on to the corner of the screen, pointing them in the right direction. "Adjusting course"
"Tch! Tornado's keeping us busy again!" Robin scoffed derisively as crossed his arms like a temperamental toddler.
"Well, a simple fire led you to Conner. We should find out what caused the alert"
"Uh, I think I know the cause" Rachel piped up, pointing towards the strange meteorological phenomenon outside caught her attention.
"Is that a—?" Robin blinked as he and others turned towards the window where she was pointing, to find violently whirling tornado was headed through the parking lot, straight for them.
"Brace yourselves!" Wally cried out a split second before the whirling cyclone was upon them.
Rachel's nails bit into the armrests on either side of her as her feet jumped up onto the console in an effort to jam herself into her chair. It did little to stop her from rocking about when the wild wind hit, at the very least she wasn't thrown from her chair like Robin had been. The detective quickly found himself sprawled across his friend's lap as the ship barrel-rolled and somersaulted about in the grasp of the tornado. It was only thanks to M'gann's quick thinking and expert piloting that the Bioship was able to slingshot itself out of the whirling vortex and land in the parking lot a few feet away.
"ROBIN? ARE TORNADOES COMMON TO NEW ENGLAND?" Kaldur had to shout to be heard over the rushing wind and the terrified screams of the public.
"He's gone" Rachel replied when the Bat's sidekick disappeared without a trace. It still mystified the witch that the Bat family heroes could do that without the aid of magic in any of its forms. Sometimes she wondered if they were part cambion too—who else could move like that?
"ROBIN?" Kaldur glanced about, searching for the boy but it was no use. Though they could hear his answering laughter coming from the warehouse where the tornado was headed earlier.
"But he was just here!" M'gann gasped.
"Ugh! I hate it when he does the ninja thing!" Wally groused as the all windows on the top floor of the power plant exploded outwards.
The sidekicks barely shared a glance before they had raced off for the warehouse where most of the commotion appeared to be coming from. They arrived just in time to see a scarf-bound android blast Robin across the room with a gust of wind (much small than the one outside, but one that still packed quite the punch). "Who's your new friend?" Conner greeted as he hauled Robin to his feet.
"Didn't catch his name, but he plays kinda rough!" Robin replied, groaning a little from where he had hit the pillar behind him.
"My apologies, you may address me as Mr Twister" Mr Twister greeted as he sent forth a gale to block Conner's approach. It was more than enough to send the kryptonian flying back over their heads where he smacked into the wall beside the doorway.
Ouch! Rachel winced at the thwacking sound that emanated upon impact. Though she trusted in his kryptonian durability.
A glance was shared between the rest of them, a silent nod and tools plucked from pockets as they turned to take on the android. Wally yanked his goggles down over his eyes whilst Robin palmed a couple of batarangs. The speedster moved first, racing for the android with ginger locks whipping about as he ran. When he came into arm's reach of the android, he jumped and launched himself forward feet first. But for was fast the speedster was, he was still no match for the twin twisters that greeted him before his feet made impact and he was none-too-gently tossed outside with enough force to score a trench through the concrete.
M'gann and Kaldur moved next, this time in tandem (or as much as two people who didn't really know each other, could). The martian aimed for the android's legs whilst the atlantean went for his head, but alas, they two were tossed aside like bags in the wind. Kaldur, hitting the same pillar Robin had hit and M'gann folding over the railing beyond that. Rachel grit her teeth as her toes dug into the soles of her shoes where she crouched low to the ground in an attempt to stay standing against the harsh gales.
"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero" Mr Twister sighed petulantly. "I was not however, expecting children"
"We're not children!" Robin retorted as he flung a pair of explosive batarangs at the wind user, but they simply just rebounded or were flicked away before they could explode.
"Objectively, you are. Have you no adult supervision? I find your presence here quite, disturbing"
"Well, we'd hate to see you disturbed! Let's see if your more turbed once we kick your can!"
Taking that as her cue, Rachel lifted her hands up towards the ceiling where a series of plumbing and exhaust pipes wove across the surface. The blackness of her magic danced across one such exhaust pipe, and with a yank of her hands, ripped apart the metal with an agonising screech as if it were no more than a sheet of paper. Scraps of metal showered down upon the android, but it was the hot steam which exploded from the pipe which did the most damage. The scent of smoke filled the air as the fog blocked Mr Twister from view, if only for a brief moment. Thankfully it was more than enough time for Conner to charge forward and launch for the wind user again, this time from the air.
But Mr Twister was not to be so easily fooled. A gust swept away the blinding smoke, whilst another blast shot Conner back across the room, only this time he connected not with the wall but with M'gann who had been coming up behind. Twin mini twisters tossed Kaldur and Robin aside as they moved together, and were then in turn, slammed together in a tangle of limbs. Unfortunately, Rachel wasn't able to move out of the way in time and found herself squished at the bottom of an impromptu dog pile. "Indeed" Mr Twister purred as he turned to leave, "That was quite turbing, thank you"
"G'off!" Rachel groaned as she tried and failed to pull herself free of the dog pile; an elbow was pressed against her sternum, long legs tangled with her own. This was about the time she had started cursing not wearing her costume; normally they could take hits like that easy, but that was with combatant gear that could take the hits. Outside of that (even with Father's training and her demonic half) they were no more than slightly superpowered children.
A few moments later, after everyone had extracted themselves from where they had fallen and regained most of their bearings, they all chased after the android, intent on taking him down before he hurt anyone else. In particular, a certain speedster who appeared to be mouthing off to the android, his mouth running a mile a minute. "What have you done to my team?!" Wally demanded as he skidded to a stop a pace or two in front of the android.
"Embarrassed them, largely" Mr Twister hummed as he flicked the speedster away. Thankfully, M'gann was able to catch him before he turned to roadkill.
"I gotcha Wally!" M'gann chirped, catching the boy midair.
"Whoa!" Wally exclaimed as he was lowered to the floor, before sparing a glance over at his teammates who were just as bruised and battered as he was. "Thanks"
"I would've thought you would've all learned your limitations by now" Mr Twister scoffed.
Well, Kent does say I'm stubborn. Rachel hummed in thought.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Kaldur demanded, shouting to be heard, though frustration was clear in his tone.
"Isn't it obvious?" Mr Twister chuckled as he ascended higher into the sky. He was really starting to get on Rachel's nerves. "I'm waiting for a real hero"
"Read his mind!" The atlantean turned to the psychic pair behind him. "Find a weakness!"
"I thought we weren't s'posed to do that!" M'gann retorted.
"IT'S OKAY WITH THE BAD GUYS!" Robin snapped.
"…I'm getting a lot of smugness" Rachel replied as she tried to concentrate on the android's emotions, "And frustration? Annoyance? Are we annoying him?"
"M'gann?" Robin turned to the martian who was still trying to concentrate beneath all the burning stares.
"Uh…nothing! I'm getting nothing!" M'gann growled.
"Well, that doesn't make sense!" Wally replied, "How can someone have thoughts and emotions, but no mind?!"
"Hello Megan!" M'gann exclaimed, eyes gleaming "Mr Twister is Red Tornado in disguise!"
"Are you sure?"
"He's inorganic, an android and how many androids do you know who can generate tornadoes?"
"Red Tornado sent us here!" Kaldur refuted.
"After saying we'd be 'tested soon enough' ?" Robin retorted, "This is his test! Something to keep us busy!"
"Are you sure?" Rachel asked warily, "I mean I can see Constantine or Kipling doing something like this—or hell! Even Fate! But Red Tornado? I just—it doesn't make sense!"
"Who else would it be?"
"Well, who made Red? Couldn't that guy have made Twister too?"
"T.O. Morrow? He's in Belle Reve! That has to be Red Tornado!"
"Speedy called it, we're a joke!" Wally groused.
Rachel nibbled at her lower lip, brows furrowed as she finally yanked her hood on, disappearing beneath the shelter it granted as she sulked over how quickly the others had dismissed her concerns. Sure, she hadn't been a hero for very long, but that didn't mean they had to talk to like that—like she was a toddler! And her concerns were valid! People escaped from prison all the time, so whose to say T.O. Morrow hadn't done the same? The guy built superpowered androids for a living, getting out of prison should've be a piece of cake for someone like him! And since could Red Tornado shapeshift? Or glamour for that matter? His whole thing was wind, not magic!
Rachel swallowed the growl that was building in her throat as she resolutely glared at the atlantean who strode forth to confront who they all thought to be Red Tornado in disguise. "WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU WANT!" Robin irritably called out, pointing at the floating android with angry gestures.
"SO LET'S END THIS!" Kaldur continued.
"Consider it ended" Mr Twister agreed as he threw his hands skywards and brought about a cumulonimbus that put the earlier tornadoes to shame.
"AN IMPRESSIVE SHOW, BUT WE WILL NOT INDULGE YOU! WE WILL NOT ENGAGE!"
"Uh, can Red Tornado…do that?" Wally stammered, eyes blown wide as lightning crackled across a previously blue sky. Suddenly Rachel's theory was sounding a lot better.
"You think I'm Tornado?" Mr Twister scoffed derisively as lightning danced along the ground, "Ironic"
The cambion cried out when lightning struck the hem of jacket and catching alight, as the violent heat glanced across legging-clad legs and they all scattered, trying to dodge out of the way of the attack. The frustration and irritation which had been welling up inside her finally exploded and the demon half she tried so desperately to control, burst forth.
Her usually ivory skin burnt crimson, two eyes became four and a forked bird tail ripped from her spine, splattering the ground with blood as her body stitched itself back together. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted that the prone forms of the others seemed to disappear from view, though she dismissed it as the android paused in his attack. "…Fine then!" Mr Twister growled irritably, "I won't deny that you children have power. But playing hide 'n seek with you will not help me achieve my objectives, so stay concealed! If you confront me again, I will show no mercy!"
A low menacing growl ripped from Rachel's throat as she yanked her smoking hoodie off and tossed it aside, leaving her in her House t-shirt (Salem Academy was an English-based school, which meant that they followed traditions found more in Common Wealth schools than the American ones. Like dividing the school into Houses for school competitions). The word BUCKTHORN sat emblazoned across her green-clad shoulders (each House was named for a school founder; hers was named for the music teacher Amelia Buckthorn) and slightly singed leggings garnered several splotches of mud as her nails-turned-talons dug into the dirt.
Tail splayed out behind her, Rachel was no longer the young avian witch that Fate cared for, instead she was Munin (as named by her Father), the young avian demon. Her legs had barely coiled for a moment before she launched herself up into the air, magic-infused fist raised and threatening caw on her lips. Despite this, she was easily swatted aside but the frustration only served to push her back to her feet and return to relentlessly attacking Mr Twister, this time dancing around his wind with an ease she had not shown before. Before long, the pair had disappeared from sight.