If there was one thing Saber hated it was new people. He never knew who to trust until they had proved themselves worthy of it. Of course, that meant he was standoffish, but it was worth it to keep out of trouble.
All this ran through his head as Saber wrapped up his jog around the estate. His parents had banned him from the estate gym for a week after his detention. They said he was "taking his privilege for granted" or some other nonsense. Still, he knew better than to argue.
Besides, it didn't matter if he was running on a thousand dollar treadmill or the grass. If anything the summer air made the outside better. One of the many lessons his parents instilled in him was to be thankful for what you had. Once when he was eight he complained about having to take a real bike outside because the stationary one was being replaced.
"There are people out there who can't even afford a gym membership and you're complaining about a 700 dollar bike," his father had said.
The Robins family was known for their ruthless business ventures and 20/20 foresight. On several occasions, they'd sent someone undercover to work at a rival company and get info. The employee would then gather support and recommend the hardworking ones go work at Robins Company. The best case scenario was starting a worker's strike so the Robins could take over the financially ruined company. At worst, they gained several new hardworking employees.
The Robins family was also known for their genuine generosity. They donated tons of money to intercity schools, personally worked in soup kitchens, and even bought up items with only a few bids at the gotham charity event last year. Saber wished he could've seen the look on Bruce Wayne's face when he was outbid for an ancient Biyalian artifact. Especially when it was immediately donated to a history museum in its country of origin. The twins only heard about it after the fact when their dad had a meeting with Lex Luthor.
Finally finished with his morning workout, Saber went inside to shower and get dressed. After he put on a stylish but casual blazer and slacks, he combed his blonde hair neatly. Then, he ruffled it slightly to give himself a sense of rebelliousness albeit in a refined way.
Just as he finished packing his messenger bag with his fencing gear, a series of 6 knocks at the door alerted Saber to his sister's presence. While it may be childish, their secret knock had saved them from several embarrassing situations over the years.
"How was your workout?" Sigil asked when he opened the door. "Did you beat your sprint record yet?"
"Not yet," Saber said. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I've got my phone and some more casual clothes depending on the atmosphere," Sigil said. "Think I could bring that Grimm's Tales book or would it be too fragile?
"That book is so worn I'm surprised it hasn't turned to dust already."
"The library gave it to me that way." Sigil shrugged. "Apparently, I'm the only one in this county who has taken an interest in it within the last fifty years."
Saber grinned but quickly smoothed his face as they headed to the foyer. Apparently they were boomtubing to the meet up point. He knew a bit about boomtubes from listening to Sigil's lessons. They were a form of instant travel between locations of any distance. Sigil was learning to create them, but upon getting no success her teacher decided to work on her shielding instead. It wasn't worth learning something you could never master.
"There you two are," said their father when they reached the foyer. "Are you ready to go?"
The twins nodded. Just then a glowing portal opened near them. It vaguely reminded Saber of a videogame save point. Exchanging a brief glance, Saber stepped through the portal with Sigil immediately following.
After stepping out of the portal they saw what looked like a typical gymnasium. A woman and a girl sat on the bleachers. The woman had a kind smile and some kind of reddish crystal around her neck. It looked like one of those cheap necklaces people overpaid for at the craft fair Sigil dragged him to.
"You two must be the twins," the woman said. "I'm Annabella, your official den mother while you stay with the group."
"My name is Jezzy," the girl said.
Saber looked at her. Her blonde hair was tied into a high ponytail, revealing a youthful face. Based on that and the glittery cupcake on her sweater, she seemed too young to be in highschool yet.
"My name is Sigil and this is my brother Saber," Sigil said, always the diplomatic twin.
"Yup," Saber grunted, never the diplomatic twin.
"Of course." Annabella nodded. "We'll be doing an introductory exercise when everyone arrives."
Sigil and Saber sat at the table, leaving the room in an awkward silence. It was better to remain silent than say the wrong thing.
Almost five minutes later another boomtube opened and out walked two people. Saber recognized one from the news, the ambassador of Markovia. The other was a tall girl with dark skin and bright eyes. She looked at everyone with the gaze of a predator.
"Sorry we're late," the girl said. "You would not believe the traffic on the way."
"It's a boomtube," Saber said blandly.
"Haha yeah good point." the girl laughed.
Normally Saber wouldn't take such an airhead seriously, but there was something hidden in her eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Her's were a locked door.
"You must be Megan," Annabella said. "My name is Annabella, I'll be helping with training and supervising you all."
"I'm usually called Alpha," Megan said. "Only my family really calls me Megan."
"Perfect." Annabella said. "we're just waiting for-"
As if waiting for her to name the person, a portal opened up and two people walked out. The first was a tall well built man in a blue coat with a scar running across his face. The other was a younger boy, not even Saber's age. The boy had hair that stood up on either side like a pair of devil horns and wore a suit.
"Ah there he is Vandal Savage," Annabella said motoning to the adult.
"Annabella." Savage nodded at her. "I welcome you all. You have been selected to form a semi-covert team to compete with the Justice League's own secret team. We all have something to gain from this alliance."
Saber and Sigil nodded simultaneously. Their parents decided they would join, and so they would. It was as simple as that. Megan grinned widely. Something about her smile was vicious but not hostile. Annabella nodded, seeming passive but Jezzy was practically bouncing in her skin.
"Klarion here will be joining as an overseer of sorts," Savage motioned to the boy in the suit. "His job is to keep an eye on you all. However, try to treat him as a regular member. His status is no higher than yours."
"This better be fun," Klarion grumbled.
"With that, I'll leave Annabella to explain the rest," Savage and another boomtube opened for him to leave.
"Well then let's start with some basic introductions and then a fight simulation," Annabella said, picking right up where Savage left off.
"I'll go first," Jezzy said. "My name is Jezzy. I'm a straight A student and I have a ponytail. My goals for the future are world domination by invoking the power of Hell."
The room was silent for a moment. Saber exchanged an amused glance with Sigil. For a moment he assumed the girl was joking. Then he noticed the serious expression on her face, no trace of "Hah, gotcha!" to be seen.
"Well, my name is Megan, but I prefer Alpha." Megan said. "I'm super bloodthirsty in battle. My goal is to help Markovia in any way I can."
She took a step forward, only to slip on the floor and nearly faceplant. They're all crazy, Saber thought to himself. Megan stood back up, brushing herself off.
"I'm okay!"
"Well, I am Klarion… bum bum Bum… the witch boy," Klarion said then motioned to the orange cat in his arms. "This is Teekl."
When he didn't elaborate, Sigil took her turn to speak.
"My name is Sigil and I enjoy reading," she said. "I specialize in magic, specifically-"
"Hah, everyone knows that humans can't do real magic," Klarion scoffed, summoning a red flame to his hand.. "Your puny spells are barely more than parlor tricks compared to this."
Sigil raised an eyebrow, her expression unimpressed. Saber held back a groan. If there was one thing his sister loved, it was a challenge. While Saber had a reputation for being brutal, Sigil's reputation was perfect. No one expected revenge, when it came from her.
"You wanna test that?" Sigil smiled, her voice sickly sweet.
"How about you, Saber?" Annabella interrupted them before the carnage could start.
"That's me," Saber said, his tone bored.
The room was silent for a long moment while everyone sized each other up. Annabella cleared her throat.
"That means it's time for your introductory training exercise." Annabella took a seat on the bleachers. "Have fun."
Five spiderbots flooded the room, one of which charged at Megan. In an instant she went from an airheaded clutz to a vicious monster, tearing into the spiderbot with her bare teeth. Megan spit out a chunk of metal with wires still attached to it, then howled. The sound was deep and surprisingly menacing.
Moving into action, Saber grabbed his rapier from his fencing supplies. In one swift fluid motion, he drew the sword from its sheath and lunged at the spider. The blade stabbed through the robot's glass domed eye and into its inner machinery destroying from inside.
Another spiderbot blasted a beam of energy at Sigil. Without batting an eyelash, she threw up a shield to reflect it. The beam bounced back at itself like a flashlight reflected at a mirror, causing the spider to explode.
Jezzy moved eagerly into battle. With one hand she seemed to pull in some kind of some black energy from around her. For a split second it almost looked like Sigil's shield weakened though none of the attacking energy broke through. Then, she raised her other hand and the black energy flew from her fingertips. A spiderbot burst into flames. The grin on Jezzy's face was almost as disturbing as Megan's howl.
Klarion was the last to react. He looked from the kitten on his shoulder to the last remaining spiderbot. Klarion's hand erupted into a storm of black and red flames that he seemed to have a surprising amount of control over. With an uninterested glance, Klarion exploded the spiderbot into a hail of sparks of machine parts. Saber gaped. That kid had that much power?
"That it?" Klarion asked in a bored obnoxious tone.
"Nope," Annabella replied as several dozen more burst through the walls.