Sylvia Wayne "Wildcat"
Wayne Manor
September 22nd, 2010
I groaned aloud as my alarm went off for school, exhausted from the night before. I was tempted to just close my eyes for five more minutes, but that always turned into Alfred waking me up at the last second. So, I threw off the covers and swung my legs over the side of the bed, slowly standing up, stretching towards the ceiling. I went to the bathroom and just brushed my teeth, rolling on some deodorant, and brushed out my hair. I moved to my closet, grabbing my school uniform. I quickly slipped on a pair of spandex under my skirt before carefully tucking my white button down into the waist of the awkwardly short, pleated grey skirt. I put on my tie and slipped the black Gotham Academy sweater vest. I grabbed my blazer just in case and folded it neatly, slipping it into my backpack.
"Miss Sylvia, you're breakfast is ready to go." Alfred said as he stood in the doorway. I nodded, grabbing my phone and backpack. I followed him down into the kitchen where a sleep deprived zombie named Richard Grayson was downing a cup of black coffee.
"Oh my sweet goodness, Alfred, you're the best." I smiled tiredly as Alfred handed me the most delicious breakfast I had ever seen. It was eggs, sausage and cheese between two maple syrup infused pancakes. It was like a mcgriddle, but a lot healthier. Dick and I dug into our breakfast sandwiches and followed Alfred to the car. By the time we got to school, I was at least a little less than half asleep, but Alfred knew I'd be like this and handed me a large coffee in a to go cup. Dick and I walked together into the school after saying goodbye to Alfred. We separated as he went to hand out with Barbara Gordon as I went to find Bette and the girls. We all went to our lockers and got ready for the morning classes.
"Hey, I'm a new student liaison today, wanna help out a bit since we're in all the same classes?" Bette asked as I took a sip of my coffee. I just nodded and put a smile on my face for the new kid. When we walked up, I had to contain my disbelief as none other than Artemis, the Team's resident Archer, entered the courtyard in a school uniform and her blonde hair back in her usual ponytail. Bette and approached her with all smiles. If she didn't recognize me, this was going to be good.
"Artemis, I'm Bette, your new student liaison, and this is Sylvia. Welcome to Gotham Academy." She smiled introducing me to her. It was hysterical to me that I was the only one that knew her already, but she didn't necessarily know exactly who I was.
"Thanks. I'm Artemis…" She was completely awkward. "But you knew that." Artemis realized and laughed uncomfortable as I saw Dick run up to her and take a selfie with her.
"We'll laugh about this some day." He said before disappearing back to Barbara by the pillars surrounding the courtyard. I held back a snort.
"Uh, who's that?" Artemis asked, completely confused. I just laughed, she definitely wasn't going to recognize him with his hair slicked back or without the sunglasses.
"Sylvia's freshman brother." Bette laughed as we walked away.
"You can just ignore him." I told her, thinking about what I could do or say to throw her off a bit before she figured out who I was. I wasn't much for following Batman's rules with the sunglasses, but the feline eyes and incisors seem to throw people off pretty well. This was going to be interesting.
The Batcave
Later that day…
"Where are you going?" My dad asked, his cowl down as he did something on the Batcomputer. I just sighed, my costume already on.
"Don't worry, I'm going to the Cave. School was fine and I've already finished my homework. Dick said he had something else to do, so I'm not waiting for him." I told him, programming my destination on the Zeta-computer. "Hey, I totally forgot that you said Artemis was coming to Gotham Academy. I got to take her from class to class with Bette." I told him with a smile.
"Did she recognize you?" My dad questioned calmly and I shook my head. "Good." He said simply before I stepped through the Zeta Tube, bathing in the golden light as I stepped out of the other side at the cave.
Recognized:
Wildcat B04.
"Hey, Kit-Kat." I heard Wally say as I looked over to see him walking towards the hangar in his Kid Flash costume and a sandwich in hand. I caught up to him, awkward, but happy to see him. We still haven't talked to each other about the thing in Bialya. He must assume that I was too tired to remember.
"Hey, Wally." I smiled, the two of us walking together, to my assumption since Robin and Artemis, we were looking for M'gann and Conner. I was actually glad he took the earth name M'gann chose for him. I decided not to bring up Artemis being at my school since her cover story was that she was Green Arrow's niece and did her usual hero work patrols with him in Star City. I saw Sphere roll ahead, finding them before us.
"Hey, guys. You two sure spend a lot of time working on his bike. Obviously you need the Wall-man's expert help." Wally said as I saw M'gann and Superboy pat sphere like they were thankful. I gave M'gann one look and she looked back with a smile, confirming my theory. Wally was in for a treat when he found out, and it made me feel a bit better that he didn't actually have a chance with her. Was I jealous? No. Was I one hundred percent sure? Maybe. After a bit, Superboy agreed to let Wally try working on the bike. He knelt down to the side as I sat cross legged next to him with the tool box.
"Torque wrench." Wally requested as Kaldur approached the four of us. I handed him the proper wrench.
"Thank you, Sweet Cheeks." Wally said, smiling at me. I looked away, glad that my cowl hid my blushing.
"I have been meaning to ask. Any problem juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?" Aqualad asked, his tone odd, like there was something else to his question. I just ignored the feeling in my gut as I watched Wally work on the bike.
"No." Superboy said, not really understanding why the question was necessary, but we all just rolled with it.
"Juggling is just one of my many talents. Socket wrench." Wally said, me swapping the torque wrench for the next tool.
"No problem." I said, remembering how glad I was that I quit soccer, knowing that I wouldn't be able to keep my commitment as a first string goalie while still going on missions, Gotham Patrol and having training around the clock.
"Daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge. Oh, but my first loyalty is always to the team. This team, not the Bumblebees." M'gann said. I respected cheerleading, but it was definitely something you could do and still miss a lot of and still be respected on the team.
"Artemis starts her new school today. Do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?" Kaldur said, suddenly bringing loyalty into the mix. I would have used priorities, so there must be something up with him and Loyalties right now. I knew and interrogation when I saw one.
"She'll be fine, she definitely will have a handle on things." I told him, my eyes narrowing at the atlantean.
"Kit-Kat's right, I mean, how much more hostile and annoying can-" Wally was cut off by the wall exploding next to us. I wiped the debris off myself and ran into action, seeing two Red Androids that reminded be a lot more of Red Tornado than Mister Twister. I ejected my claws and charged, but I was caught in the massive blast of water. M'gann and Aqualad made it away, but the water just kept pounding. When I finally was able to gasp for breath, I couldn't move. I looked around at myself and found that the metal was still hot and slightly burning my suit as the water steamed against it. Conner, Wally and I were trapped in warped metal. I looked up at the last minute to see the female android trapping Aqualad and M'gann in a cage of fire, the two of them becoming weaker and weaker.
"What the hell are we supposed to do now? They're going to kill them with that fire." I said as the two androids left the room, leaving us all trapped as they went to secure the rest of the mountain. No one said anything as M'gann faded way faster than Aqualad. I heard a battle happening and the computer announcing the arrival of Robin and Artemis. They must have escaped the robots since they weren't brought out here. After a few moments, my thoughts were confirmed as I heard the male robot's echo through the cave, sounding exactly like Red Tornado.
"Attention, Robin. Attention, Artemis. You have exactly 10 minutes to surrender, or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished." The voice echoed. I looked to Wally, the two of us both worried.
"If they're still alive and uncaptured, we still have a chance, right?" Wally asked, and I nodded.
"They'll either get help, or figure it out themselves." I promised, looking over at M'gann and Aqualad, nervous since they were currently the most vulnerable. I watched as the red woman returned, increasing the intensity of the heat coming from the cage. I could feel it in from the metal as the three of us struggled to break free. But the red male willed the water to return, rising up to our necks.
"Nine minutes, and forty five seconds." The male android spoke coldly. I realized I could twist around in the metal as the water began to act as a lubricant. "Eight minutes." I heard once again. I believed we were down to about seven minutes when Robin and Artemis breached the surface of the water.
"Look out!" Wally yelled as the other two dove under, to avoid a fireball from the female android. They swam over to us, gasping for breath.
"You guys okay?" Robin said, swimming to me and grabbing more bombs out of my utility belt, finding that it wasn't completely trapped in the metal as I pushed myself forward so he could get to it. I kept twisting my joints around in the metal. I was getting uncomfortable, but I was getting uncomfortable.
"Forget us. Help M'gann." Superboy said loudly and angrily.
"Aqualad! is she…?" Artemis squeaked, hoping for the best.
"She is unconscious. I fear she we cannot survive much longer." Aqualad said, fighting the best he could to stay conscious. The red woman shot more fire at the two as they dove back under, away from her reach. They emerged at the steps, running up as the male android emerged to follow them, his left I sparking like one of them damaged it. The red woman cornered them.
"I'm almost out of arrows." I heard Artemis say as I finally got an arm free beneath the water.
"Distract her, now!" I heard Robin shout as something exploded with red smoke. Out of nowhere, one of Robin's discs deflected off the male android, it embedding itself in the metal just next to Wally's ear.
"Whoa." He said in shock as I wiggled my other arm free. Unlike the other two, my muscles were small and my flexibility aided in wriggling free. I was able to push my abdomen forward as I brought my shoulders down, my chin now touching the metal. The water was now just below my nose as I moved.
"But I'm betting we can make one." I heard Robin's voice say in the disc he planted next to Kid. "What do you say, KF?" I put my hands up into the place where my shoulders were. "Do-able?"
"Kit-Kat is doing something really weird… and totally do-able." He said as I churned the water as I moved more forcefully.
"Five minutes." The android said once again.
"You know, if you had more time." Kid said as I pushed my arms up, usinging the leverage to pull the rest of myself up. The movement strained my feet, but I was able to shimmy up, the only hard part getting my hips through the hole where my shoulders were. "Med lab, X-ray machine. You'll find a small vacuum tube called a vircator that converts high energy pulses.
Reprogram the unit's microwave conversion from x-rays to EMPs, with a cascading energy vector directed outward." Kid told them in the comm as I was free, putting my body back in the water and pretending to look like I was still trapped as the androids passed by.
"A ripple effect. Like dropping a stone in a pond." I heard Robin say as I pulled three re-breathers from my utility belt, knowing that there's a chance the water will get to high.
"A stone with 10 to the twelfth power of wattage, yeah." Wally replied watching me dip my head under to scope out how the androids even got in.
"So I'll need to hook it up to the cave main generator." Robin said. I looked over, remembering that the main generator was in here.
"Four minutes." The androids said as they checked on us once again. I held myself in place to make it look like I was still as the water made its way up our necks, everyone looking up to keep it away from our mouths.
"Okay. Make with the distraction." Robin said as we all saw them get into place.
"Hey, red tomato! Who's your girlfriend, Red Onion?" Wally asked loudly to the androids as Robin and Artemis skirted around the edge of the hangar.
"Yeah. And by the way, worst death trap ever. We can escape any time we want." Superboy smiled, getting the attention of the Robots.
"I can vibrate my molecules out of here before your binary brains can count to two." The second wally said it, I started laughing, unable to contain myself.
"And you can't drown a Kryptonian, dumb bots. We don't breathe air." Superboy was able to maintain their attention. It seemed they were calculating for error. Wally just bursted out laughing.
"And Miss Martian? I can't believe you're buying her act." He joked to the androids as they watched us.
"You know how hot it gets in the caves of Mars? That cage is just making her homesick. Duh!" I shouted, laughing morbidly at the sight of M'gann who was actually dying at the moment. Wally laughed with me.
"Robin, look out!" Artemis yelled as the male notice him, splashing the water up and taking him with it. She fired an explosive arrow missing as the female forced her to make another escape. Robin was brought up in a thing of water. I would be worried with him not moving, but it was apart of our training to pretend to have drowned in order to get out of the water faster. Which was right, because he was dropped out of the water, laying on the ground as he pretended not to breath.
"Three minutes." The male android announced as the water rose. Aqualad was finally down for the count as the androids watched Robin. "One minute." he said and just as the water rose above our heads, I swam over to Wally and Superboy, giving them rebreathers as my muscles ached from the painful escape from the metal. They two of them just looked at my underwater as they didn't need to struggle anymore. I peaked above the surface to see Artemis enter.
"I surrender. Stop the clock." She said. They reached for her bow, but she leaped over them, firing one last arrow at the generator. The metal arrow head worked, the EMP activating. The cage of fire faded as the water moved back down.
"Kaldur, how's M'gann?" Superboy yelled immediately.
"She breathes." He replied in a labored voice. "I believe she will recover. What of Robin?" Kaldur asked as I ran to check on my brother. The second I saw him, he sputtered.
"He... He's breathing, too." Artemis said thankfully, leaning back on her feet.
"Way to get traught." He smiled, Artemis letting out a sigh of relief as I elevated my brother's head. After a bit, Artemis and I decided to get a laser to cut Wally and Superboy out.
"So how did you make it?" Wally asked Robin.
"Figured my only shot was to surrender, pretend to drown before I actually did. Blacked out, though." He explained.
"M'gann." Connor said, M'gann holding his free hand. The martian was conscious and supported by Aqualad.
"I'll be fine." She promised him. I couldn't help but smile at the two of them before looking to Wally who was getting aggravated.
"Will you quit playing with that thing and cut us free already?" He snapped.
"It's not working, genius." I snapped at him, defending Artemis.
"EMP shuts down all machines, remember?" The blonde archer spoke angrily as I heard Red Tornado arrive.
"All machines present at the time. What has occurred?" He questioned, surveying the situation.
"Had a little visit from your family." Robin frowned, looking over at the inactive robots.
"Your extremely nasty family." Artemis snapped at him, but I rested a hand on her shoulder understanding how much she must have gone through today.
"I was not aware I had relations." Tornado said as he walked over to his siblings.
"Where have you been?" Superboy asked, watching the Android.
"Monitor duty on the Watchtower. When it became clear cave communications were down, I attempted to investigate. But your Zeta tubes were also nonfunctional. I transported to Providence and proceeded here." Tornado explained as Sphere activated and rolled up at the same time the laser finally began working.
"Hey, boy." Connor welcomed the sphere as the laser shot out at the ground.
"The pulse has worn off." Robin and Wally said at the same time as Tornado touched one of his siblings. There was a faint spark before Tornado and the female shared the same glowing eyes. He flew up into the air and vacuumed all of the oxygen away from us. Everyone was suffocating. I reached for Wally just before I blacked out, his eyes wide.
I felt someone shake me as I started remembering things. I suddenly remembered the tank of water, being electrocuted. But someone shook me some more as I opened my eyes. Before I realized what was going in, I tackled the person shaking me, pressing my claws against their throat. I snapped to reality and realized I was on top of Robin. I moved away from him and looked over, seeing Captain Atom freeing Superboy and Wally. Superman was helping Artemis off the ground.
"What happened here?" He asked her, and she went ballistic.
"What happened? The Reds happened! Tornado and his- Wait, where are they?" She asked, afraid. The second Captain Atom freed Wally, he sped to me, giving me a hug as I groaned in pain. My body hurt a lot more than it did when I escaped the metal.
"Gone." Robin spoke up. "All three of them. Gone"