Gotham High
August 28, 2017
11:19
Victoria's hand darted up, her famous smirk plastered across her face. Before her instructor could properly call on her for the answer, the young technology enthusiast belted it out anyway, "Core i5 CPUs have four processors."
The hacker didn't need her computer teacher's approval to know her answer was correct. After all, Victoria could rebuild the technology blindfolded accurately. At the site of her instructor's reassuring smile, Victoria's attention shifted towards her phone, which rested peacefully in the center of her lap.
Yessenia had been texting her all morning with news over the newer teammates, especially Angel, who the Amazonian had grown a strong disliking for. Even though the Hispanic boy had only been on the team for a little under twenty-four hours, he had been so adamant with his sexist tendencies that Yessenia admitted contemplating murdering the boy.
Victoria chuckled as she read the Amazonian's update: If I kill him, I'm sure Zeus would have a party in my honor. As the sound bubbled out of the Italian's throat, her teacher sent her a directed look, an eyebrow raised high.
"Sorry," Victoria muttered, a hand over her mouth to stop her laughter. Before her teacher could retort, or even chastise her, the bell rang. "See you tomorrow!" The archer exclaimed with a wide grin as she collected her belongings. As she picked up her book bag, she sent a hasty reply to her friend.
Victoria found herself apologizing once more as she collided with another figure attempting to maneuver through the hallway. Her focus shifted from her handheld device up to a boy, who smiled down at her politely. It wasn't until he had doubled over that Victoria realized that she had dropped her class work.
"I'm sorry!" Victoria repeated, dropping down as well to gather the scattered material. "I wasn't paying attention," the archer elaborated as if she needed to explain the reasoning behind her clumsy actions.
With a grin, he replied back to her, "That's okay Veronica!" His words caused her to stumble unceremoniously once more, but he seemed not to notice that he called her by the wrong name. Without skipping a beat, he continued to speak, "I have to get to class!"
Waving, he quickly entered a classroom, leaving Victoria by herself. I need to work on not being so invisible... she thought to herself as she fixed the placement of her bag. Only the hero could be news headlines one day but called out of name the next. She sighed, suddenly wishing she was with Yessenia dealing with the newer team members.
Mount Justice
August 28, 2017
11:24
Yessenia stretched her limbs meticulously, her arms spread apart as well as her legs. She bent over to the side slightly, her muscles contorting.
"Is this really the best idea?" Raja asked the group, his eyebrow raised in questioning. Yessenia stopped her stretch, her hand finding its way to rest on her popped out hip. The Amazonian struggled not to roll her eyes at the older boy's question.
"Yes. Logan isn't here to stop us," Noah answered in a pinpoint way, his stretch still continuing briefly.
"And because he isn't here currently, that makes it okay for you four to try fighting a horde of zombies?" Raja challenged in a mix of both a nonchalant but interested manner. The group of heroes met glances, formulating their respective responses of either 'absolutely', 'yeah', and 'of course'. The eldest sighed in response, knowing that any logic he would attempt to say would only be ignored by the young teenagers.
Even though the tension in the room was still thick from the newcomers presence, Yessenia and Noah had still invited Dani and Angel to join their experiment. Almost immediately, the two teens agreed, excited at the thought of 'fighting zombies'. "You know Raja, it isn't too late to join us," Noah offered with a smirk, his arms outstretched in front of him.
Raja simply rolled his eyes in response. "You guys are going to get hurt," was his prediction.
Noah shrugged, his smile not leaving his face. It had been a while since he was able to use his powers, especially in such a respectful environment. An environment where the people don't see me as a monster, Noah internalized. He shook the dark thoughts out of his head somewhat physically before finding a balance of calmness.
The teen didn't hesitate any longer, his irises leaving his eyes as his powers called for the decaying bodies. For a moment, the room was just eerily silent and still, nobody moving. The temperature decreased in the slightest before dropping violently, causing the room's occupants to shiver unexpectedly, including Raja, who had found camp at the room's side bench.
"¡Oh, mierda!" Angel screamed out as a fractured limb grabbed for his foot.
"Calm down!" Dani snapped back forcefully. She maneuvered closer to the Mexican boy, stomping onto the hand that frightened him. Her action immediately had consequences: the training room's lights flickered before channeling themselves completely off.
Yessenia turned to face Noah's concentrated form, "How long do you think you can keep this up?" She asked him, midst fighting the horde of separated appendages. The boy already appeared weak, sweat glistening off his forehead. The horde became more difficult to fight off with each pressing second, the limbs grabbing the teens to pull them down.
Noah stumbled through his words, far more concentrated on keeping his powers activated. "A couple minutes at max," he confessed.
The experiment itself was to test Noah's strength and time management when it came to the usually unused power, as well as how useful the tactic could truly be. His confession though was nothing more than a speculation, as the power was not one hundred percent perfected yet. He struggled to keep his arms up.
Even though Dani was battling nearly half of her leg, which had become infested with the undead's touch, she fared better than both Yessenia and Angel. The two had been tackled by the assortment of limbs, their arms and legs thrashing wildly in attempts of recovery.
Raja watched on from the side, his eyebrows furrowed as he watched the apparently strenuous task weaken the necromancer. "Noah-" Raja warned, standing up and taking a step forward. The zombie body attachments attempted to strangle Raja the closer he got to the boy. "Noah," the Muslim boy tried again, struggling to reach the diviner.
Noah's irises returned only for his eyelids to shut quickly, his body stumbling onto the ground unceremoniously. Dani, being the closest to the now passed out team member, caught him mid fall. The zombie limbs were now gone, the temperature in the room increasing slowly and the lights dimming up.
Blackgate Prison
August 28, 2017
12:00
Oliver tapped his slender fingers on the desk in front of him, his eyes focusing past the plexiglass window and onto the figure sitting down on the opposite end.
The man across from the technician picked up the old-style phone before speaking. "Hey Ollie," the voice was strained and tired, but still held the same authoritative tone it always had.
"Hey dad," Oliver greeted. The man let out a breath of humor before leaning closer to the glass separating the two. The man's brightly colored garment reflected off the divider, making the darkened prisoner number strike out more in comparison. "How's it going?" The mixed teen asked comfortably.
This scene was not new to the technician. For most of his life, the only way Oliver could speak to his dad was in a set up similar to this: two wired phones going through the physical barrier between them, a plethora of armed guards awaiting for their meeting to be finished, and the darkened gaze his father shed upon Oliver.
"Food still sucks," the man quipped, his eyes settling on an officer as he spoke. The look was accusing, an eyebrow raised in a defensive manner. The next phrase was directed towards the correctional worker, "Would it kill you assholes to add some seasoning?"
The silence that resulted from the exclamation wasn't unheard of either. The hero's father was known for his abundant amount of complaints and staff jokes, which, at this point in the man's sentencing, didn't faze the guards any longer.
Oliver smirked lightly, his seating position shifting to find comfort in the unstable prison chair. His eyes stayed on his father's figure, surveying every detail of the adult for any sign of negativity.
"When you get out I'll make sure you have some paprika," Oliver joked with a large grin, his head shaking ever so slightly in amusement. The man chortled loudly, looking back at the guards once more when he did. He knew visitation time was almost over and the glance of threat and warning he bestowed to them was heavy.
When one of the guards tapped his watch lightly, the criminal turned to look back at Oliver with a small frown. With another nasty glance towards the officers and a flip of the middle finger, the man continued his conversation.
"How're you liking the team kid? They treating you good?" Some of the man's words had cuts at the end, making the thin accent appear heavier. Oliver grinned widely, excited that he finally got to speak about his newly made friends to his dad in person, instead of in letters.
Oliver stood up straight, his hands at his side displaying happy gestures as he spoke rapidly. "They are great Pops! I feel like I finally fit in when I'm with them," Oliver's confession made the man smile lightly. "I just know you would love Yessenia, you two would get along really great! Not to mention Victoria!" The teen couldn't contain himself, his diction only getting more adrenalized with each passing second.
At the mention of the girls' names, the prisoner smirked widely, leaning even closer to the glass. Almost immediately, Oliver stumbled back in his seat a bit, shaking his head vigorously with an even bigger smirk than his father's. "Come on dad, you know I'm pathetically in love with Raja," Oliver joked lightly, changing the subject away from the two girls.
"Lawton," The sound of the two's conjoined last name caused both of them to look up. During their conversation, the warden had been ushered down to force the deadly assassin back into his cell. "I'm getting really tired of your shit Deadshot. Get your ass up and back in the cell," the warden's tough demeanor resulted in a dramatic eye roll from the criminal.
"Don't bother showing up next week," Deadshot said to his son, before winking in the mixed teen's direction, "I have a feeling my visitation rights are about to be suspended." With that said, the criminal threw up his fists, successfully hitting the guard closest to him square in the face. As the fighting continued, Oliver stood up with a soft chuckle, exiting the room.
Mount Justice
August 28, 2017
14:09
Victoria hummed along to the music Yessenia was playing, both girls laid down on the younger girl's bed. The Italian girl closed her eyes peacefully and allowed the violin's medley to course through her. "You're a really good player," Victoria complimented, her eyes still closed and her head swaying back and forth lightly. Yessenia only nodded curtly and stiffly, too afraid to make large movements that would ruin her song.
Victoria continued talking, content with just having her best friend around to listen to her words. "I'm thinking of joining the prom committee," the archer confessed. Somewhere during her sentence, her eyes had fluttered open and found focus on the Amazon's ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stars sticking to Yessenia's ceiling appeared dull and lifeless in the light, just like the stars were when they were originally putting them up.
The older girl smiled lightly at the memory before picking herself up into a seated position. It seemed like only yesterday that Yessenia had joined the team; the Amazon moving in to the base.
Yessenia entered the living room loudly, startling its occupants. With a heavy thud, the Amazonian princess and warrior dropped her bags on the floor, her sword making its way from her hands to her hip. "I am Yessenia Prince of Themscyra, I joyously join your team," she said with a smile, her free hand placing a violin case carefully on the floor next to her other belongings.
"We were expecting you," Logan replied after the initial shock of her entrance, a smile worn on his face. "Let me show you to your room. Do you need any help with your stuff?" The medic stood up from his position on the couch, quickly followed by McKenzie and Victoria.
Victoria watched on in mild interest as the newcomer squinted her eyes at the male, a look of suspicion spread across her features. It took a moment before the girl allowed Logan to help her. It didn't surprise Victoria much, as she heard that Yessenia only experienced the male presence of either gods or...well Green Arrow.
As the medic ushered the princess to her assigned bedroom, McKenzie and Victoria followed closely behind like lost puppies might, interest gleaming in their eyes at Yessenia. When they reached the heavy and metallic room door, Yessenia was quick to open it, excitement filling her to her core.
The lights were turned on before they even entered, making the room appear bright. It was mostly empty, save for an undressed bed and lone working desk, the space large. Yessenia placed her belongings on her newly assigned mattress before she turned back towards the others.
McKenzie excitedly looked over at Logan. "Can we show her now?" The serpent's question was innocent, her expression shy but wild all at once. Before anybody gave any sort of acknowledgement, Victoria flicked the lights off. The once lifeless ceiling illuminated a pale green.
"Is that-?" Yessenia knew the answer before she even finished her question. The constellations above her were the same stars that shone down at her while living on Themscyra, she was sure of it. "I-" The girl stuttered, her previously stoic and reserved attitude gone.
"We spent all last night putting them up for you. We figured you'd be homesick," Victoria shyly admitted, her eyes following Yessenia's. The archer was proud of their handiwork and even more proud that it managed to make an Amazonian starstruck. "Hopefully we put them on correctly. It took us a while to find a map of the-" Victoria began to explain the never-ending process of the stars' application, but fell short when the Amazonian girl clutched onto her tightly, her arms wrapped around the girl's frame.
"Thank you," Yessenia whispered in her ear. It wasn't long before she backed away from the older girl, a grin practically spread on her face from ear to ear. "All of you," she continued, looking towards both the serpent and the medic. She took her sword off her hip and tossed it onto her bed, all the while her eyes focusing once more on the bright ceiling. All of her anxiety about joining the new team was gone.
Yessenia stopped moving her bow. "Prom committee, huh?" She asked in a flirtatious manner, a smirk stretched across her face. The Amazonian hugged her instrument close to her chest as she propped herself up into a more formal sitting position.
Victoria shrugged in response, an equally wicked smirk absent from her own face. "Yeah, I think it'll look good on college applications and stuff," Victoria explained her reasoning, her hand waving in the air next to as she spoke as if to emphasis her point. The Italian failed to mention that the and stuff was to prove to herself she wasn't just a superhero, but also a teen.
And maybe if I join the committee, people will start recognizing me and my face, Victoria thought to herself, biting the corner of her lip in thought. She wouldn't admit it, but her peer's mistake from earlier in the day had made the girl insecure. Half of me is this important and influential hero but the other half of me is a nameless nobody... hopefully not for long...
Yessenia instantly noticed Victoria's internal battle, her practice long forgotten. "Are you sure that it won't be too much work? You already seem too stressed and busy," the girl noted, care and concern etched in her words. Victoria debated telling her friend the memory of earlier that day, or even the memory of her bullies affirming her belief that Victoria is a nobody, but ultimately decided against it. It wasn't worth mentioning. It didn't matter.
A chuckle escaped Victoria's throat, "I can do it. It isn't too much work, I promise!" She knew her promise was empty; it being more of a hope than an actual confirmation.
Yessenia looked skeptical, her eyes narrowed in thought. Victoria appeared sincere, her unsure promise and plans seemingly perfect for her to endure. "Okay," Yessenia breathed out slowly, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, "but take it easy. You still need time off from this-" she gestured around to illustrate the hero work they were both employed in, "-and from school. Don't overwork yourself."
Victoria smiled reassuringly. "I won't, I promise," she retorted.
Star City Police Department
August 28, 2017
17:50
The red-haired man stared down at the leading suspect, taking in miniscuil details about the dark-haired woman.
"I did not kill my husband!" She cried out, her face buried in her hands as tears freely flowed down her chin. She sat in a stable chair in the precinct's interrogation room, her leg bobbing up and down at a speed that would make the Flash jealous.
"You're saying your husband killed himself?" Sam asked, pacing the length of the small room. She nodded dubiously, her tear-stained face accepting the off duty hero's question as fact. Sam continued pacing briefly, before sitting in a chair opposite of the woman. "I'm so sorry for your loss," the man apologized, his eyes still scrutinizing the woman's actions.
She took a sip of her drink, only nodding in response. This was all he needed.
Without further word exchanges, Sam stood up to leave the room. As he exited the tiny area and came face to face with the sheriff, he spoke gruffly, "She shot him."
The sheriff looked back out into the room from the one-sided mirror, watching as the woman closed her eyes and relaxed her previously still position. "How do you know this time?" She asked the taller man, staring up at him for a moment. Sam's gaze followed the sheriff's, before trailing down to the now empty cup in the room.
"She picked up her drink with her left hand," he simplified.
The sheriff, impressed, crossed her arms over her chest and asked, "Why does that matter?"
Sam pushed one of his hands into his suit jacket's pocket, his other hand pointing out the cup for the officer to inspect. "She's left-handed and so is the killer. If her husband actually committed suicide, then the gun would be in his right hand, not his left," the short explanation was trivial, but sound. The forensic psychologist shoved his other hand into his pocket as well before stalking off out of the precinct.
He did his job, now the police task force needs to do theirs.
Mount Justice
August 29, 2017
02:12
Logan chuckled lightly under his breath as he read the television captions for the cartoon he was currently watching. The non-English dialect of the American cartoon was amusing, to say at the least, especially with the numerous mistranslations.
Although his uniformed hat had been tossed onto the couch in a neat manner, the rest of his uniform was still intact. It was obvious that he had just returned from work, the only thing on his mind being a coffee refill and a bowl of cereal to keep him occupied as the rest of the team slept peacefully in their respected rooms.
It wasn't long before the lone member was greeted by another, McKenzie entering the living room. Her feet were dragging against the floor, a scuffle sound erupting from her paled pink slippers. Logan turned around at the sound, instantly spotting the younger team mate.
"Is everything okay?" He asked her, his expression turning concerned. Normally, he would be the only member up this late, so her arrival was nothing short of alarming.
Logan placed his bowl on the nearest flat surface to him before redirecting his attention back on the serpent girl. As if she didn't hear his question, the demigod flopped on the couch next to the EMT. "McKenzie?" The Russian male questioned her, a tentative hand reaching out to touch her gently.
Before his hand could make contact with the small of her back, the serpent sat up. The action was small and brief, but her head soon came down to rest on Logan's lap instead of the bottom couch cushion. It was a small surprise, but Logan soon found his hand rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"I can't sleep," McKenzie finally admitted, her words coming out mumbled.
Logan turned down the volume of the television with his free hand before he spoke. "How come?"
Her back tensed up slightly, her breathing hitching in her chest and throat. "What if I'm the reason one of us dies?" Her question had been quiet, her words nearly jumbled breaths of air. He had been waiting for this moment ever since the fear simulation.
His hand still rested on her back lightly as he reassured her calmly. It was nearly a minute before he responded, his mind struggling to piece together an appropriate response to her question. Finally he answered her, a sweet message of, "I trust you." The silence continued after that, the only sound being the clock ticking by in the background.
Her breathing evened out slightly, but her back remained tense under his touch. McKenzie needed a real answer.
Logan continued his statement, trying to deliver his words correctly so it came out as reassuring and not accusing. "We'll worry about that if it ever happens, okay? It'll work out in the end, I promise," his whispered remark eased McKenzie's stiff posture, but he didn't stop rubbing her back until he knew she was fast asleep.
Stanford California
August 29, 2017
03:35
Alyn blinked rapidly, her fight against sleeping becoming a more pronounced struggle. With a yawn and quick glance at her watch, the young woman calculated how much longer she needed to be at work. She was grateful to learn that it would only be another thirty minute battle with her exhausted body.
The small diner she worked out was predominantly empty, save for her, another waitress, and the cook in the back. Her coworkers mimicked her actions of yawning and checking the time, all of them obviously appearing overworked and tired. For Alyn, this had been the longest shift she's had in three weeks.
The door bell dinged, a group of college students stumbling inside the diner. Alyn sighed dryly through her nose as they sat in her designated section.
She planted on a faux smile, her voice trying to be anything but strained as she spoke, "Hello, welcome to Jessie's! My name is Alyn and I'm your server for tonight. Can I start you out with some drinks?" The script had become second nature to the hero, the words flowing off her tongue perfectly.
Despite the fact that the group seemed to be already drunk, she allowed two of them to order beers. After the rest of their beverage requests had been taken, Alyn left for the backroom. The other waitress had already left, leaving only Alyn and the cook in the cramped up space.
"Two beers and four coffees," Alyn repeated the drunken kids' requests to the chef as she placed down a silver platter for him to place the drinks upon. Too quickly for her liking, Alyn was once again out onto the main portion of the building, drinks in arm.
This is going to be a long night, the woman complained internally. But it'll be worth it when I'm home with Mihrimah again. With her own words striking a mantra in her head, the off-duty superhero powered through the rest of her shift.
Hey! Sorry for the late update, but hopefully you all enjoyed it. If your character wasn't highly involved in this chapter, it means I'm planning on focusing on them a lot more next chapter, so don't worry! And next chapter is supposed to be another long one (6,000-12,000 words) if that's any conciliation. Anyway, as always I have questions for you all:
1. If you could choose one villain to be your character's main/important villain, who would it be and why? (Please don't say the Joker is your arch nemesis if your character has never been to Gotham. Have it make sense please this is kind of important!)
2. Which character do you want your character to talk to more? Which relationships do you want me to establish? (Which character do you think your character would be more likely to snap at and for what reason?)
3. Which drabble would you prefer to see on the blog: swapped bodies or villain AU? (This one is just for fun)
Make sure to check out the blog for challenges, and don't be afraid to post! Happy readings!