Whilst that was going on in New York the Alverez twins were enjoying a nice meal out with their parents in Star City, still Claudia couldn't shake her suspicion of Adriana throughout the meal and used a bathroom break to sneak out the back and get her phone out.
"On one hand, I want to spend as much time with my family as possible because we have a lot to go through." Claudia thought as she waited for Green Arrow to answer her video call, the restaurant was a Mexican restaurant that had come recommended by a fellow Hispanic friend that they had met through work and so far the food was living up to their expectations. "But on the other hand, as much as I hate to think the worse of Addy, she's acting so out of character that it's not even funny." Claudia thought before Green Arrow answered her call. "Hola Green Arrow, thanks for answering the call on such short notice."
"You're lucky I wasn't on a mission." Green Arrow nodded as Claudia leaned against the alley wall. "How goes the meal out with your parents?"
"So far? It's been going fantastic! Food's great and it's like mom and dad never left our lives." Claudia responded with a warm smile before letting out a deep breath. "But there's something that's been bugging me since we got back from the Watchtower, and I was hoping you'd be able to clear some things up for me."
"I'll do what I can, but I can't promise anything." Green Arrow nodded as he motioned for her to continue.
"Last night Adriana went out and didn't return until the next morning." Claudia stated as she fixed her ponytail. "She said that she had been given an all night assignment by you on behalf of the League, but her story had so many holes in it that I could tell that she wasn't being truthful."
"Yeah, you mentioned the assignment yesterday, the fact that I didn't remember giving her that assignment should've been your first clue." Green Arrow responded with a frown and Claudia let out a deep breath. "And when I mentioned the assignment to Superman, he said that no such assignment had been given to Adriana."
"This isn't like her." Claudia responded as her frown deepened. "I should know, I'm her twin sister! Adriana might get cocky at times and more often than not, that cockiness rubs off on me but why the hell is she lying about League Assignments?!"
"I didn't want to mention this, but you seem to be reaching the same conclusions that we are." Green Arrow responded before letting out a deep breath. "Years ago, I had a sidekick called Speedy, he's a reserve member of the League but he has assisted the League on multiple occasions, there's a reason he was never made a full fledged member of the League, he's a recovering drug addict."
"And you think Adriana is going down the same path?" Claudia asked as she let out a deep breath. "Our parents moved to the states when we were fourteen, the main reason was that one of our cousins had been killed in a drug deal gone bad and our parents didn't want the same life for us, it hit Addy especially hard because that cousin was her best friend before she moved to the states."
"Your saying there's no way in hell she'd even consider taking hard drugs?" Green Arrow asked and Claudia nodded. "I'm sorry for your sister's loss but as much as I hate to say it, I can't think of any other reason why she'd be lying like this, right now? She's merely under suspicion and the League won't act on it without any solid proof, but if you do find proof then we'll have to force her to take a drug test."
"And I just know she won't take that well." Claudia sighed as she fixed her ponytail. "What'll happen if that does come to pass?"
"Either way, she'd be taken off the active roster, the League would consider Adriana a danger to herself and others." Green Arrow explained and Claudia nodded. "There are three possible options, if the test comes back clean then she'd be put back on the roster as soon as possible, if it comes back positive then the only way she'd be welcome back on the roster is if she completes a rehabilitation program paid for by the League, and that's if she agrees to the drug test."
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what if she refuses?" Claudia asked and Green Arrow let out a deep breath.
"If she refuses, then she'd be asked to leave the League." Green Arrow responded and Claudia lowered her head as she heard that. "With only one stipulation for her re-admission into the League, that she goes into rehab, difference is, she'd have to pay for it herself."
"Frankly, I don't know what scenario I prefer." Claudia sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "Even if she agrees to the drug test and it comes back negative, you just know that she'd be pissed off that she was even suspected of using drugs."
"I know and I understand completely, I wouldn't be too thrilled if someone suspected me of using drugs if I had a family member who died because of drugs." Green Arrow nodded in understanding and Claudia let out a deep breath. "Let's hope that it doesn't come to that, I'm going to let you go because I'm sure your family is wondering what happened to you."
"I used a piss break as an excuse to call you, appropriately enough." Claudia admitted getting a chuckle out of Green Arrow. "I did need the bathroom but I used that as a cover to sneak out the window and call you, I guess I could tell them that I just took the biggest piss break of my life."
"And if I were your parents, I'd be wondering what exactly you were drinking to go to the bathroom for that long." Green Arrow responded getting a laugh out of Claudia. "And I trust that you washed your hands before calling me?"
"Off course I did, made that my top priority." Claudia responded before sighing. "I'll call you back later if anything else comes up during the meal and tell Black Canary I said hi."
"Will do, enjoy your meal." Green Arrow nodded before hanging up on her and Claudia returned to the bathroom via the window.
"Gods almighty, I hope the League is wrong about this!" Claudia thought as she discreetly closed the window behind her, fortunately for the Mexican woman there were no other women in the lady's bathroom, and she stopped in front of the mirror to fix her make-up. "I'm Addy's older sister, I'm supposed to protect her! But I don't know what I'd do with myself if she has turned to drugs."
*back in New York*
Whatever plans Magneto had in mind for the hellicarier were put on hold after Dragon Girl, Silent Tempest and Hawk and Dove engaged him and the other mutants in battle.
"Stay out of this Dragon Girl." Magneto warned her as he turned to Kat. "This does not concern you,"
"Bringing down the SHIELD Hellicarier on top of New York does concern me!" Kat corrected him as her eyes narrowed. "Besides, you guys are in a new dimension now, this place doesn't have the same prejudices against mutants as our home dimension does."
"And what am I? Chopped liver?!" Yuri demanded with an annoyed look on her face and The Blob licked his lips in response. "You know what? Forget I said that."
"We don't have to fight." Dove chimed in as he pushed his way to the front of the group. "This is your chance to make a fresh start Magneto."
"Perhaps, but whilst this world has been welcoming to mutant kind so far, how long will that last?" Magneto pointed out as the rest of the mutants got ready to fight. "And you'd be naïve to think otherwise."
"These guys aren't giving us much of a choice." Hawk responded with a frown as he stared down the group of mutants. "Those guys are mutants like you girls, right?"
"Basically yeah, and unfortunately not all of them turned out to be on the side of good." Kat nodded as she glanced over at Hawk. "Magneto, well, he's called the Master of Magnetism for a reason, Avalanche and Pyro's powers are pretty self-explanatory as well, Toad has superhuman leg and tongue strength, yes, you heard me correctly, and The Blob's basically an immovable object."
"And if we can't talk them down, we're in for a tough fight where we're outnumbered five to four, Toad's usually easily enough to take down but the rest will be a challenge." Yuri added before the portal opened again and hero and villain alike covered their eyes. "Again?! Just how unstable is that portal generator?!" Yuri asked before a large truck poured out of the portal, Kat and Yuri blinked a few times once they realized who it was., "Wow, and I thought Turner D. Century showing up yesterday was going to be as weird as it got."
"What the?! How did I end up in New York?!" The thoroughly confused voice of US1 echoed from the truck. "Last I checked, I was battling the Highwayman!"
"Your dimension has a truck driving Superhero?!" Hawk asked with a dumbfounded look on his face and the two Asian girls nodded. "Okay, I gotta hear the story behind this guy!"
"Later, how about we focus on…oh great." Kat groaned once she realised that Magneto had used his powers to levitate US1's truck. "Magneto, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but put the truck and Ulysses Solomon Archer down!" Kat ordered the much older Supervillain before noticing the looks she was getting from Hawk and Dove. "Yes, that's actually his real name, don't ask! Okay now that I think about it, "don't ask" could apply to a lot of things about US1 but still!"
"I am definitely asking for this guy's story when we return to the Watchtower." Hawk responded before he charged right at Magneto, the Blob charged forward and the two met in a stalemate on the roof.
"Silent Tempest, Dove, you take care of the rest, I'm going to see if I can help Hawk with The Blob." Kat whispered to the other heroes who nodded before they split off, but before she could get any closer Pyro let lose with his flame jets which Kat barely dodged.
"Nice try Dragon Girl!" Pyro bellowed out as the Australian mutant kept Kat at bay with his flames. "If you can't handle the heat, stay away from me!"
"Pyro's main claim to fame is his pyrokinesis, if I can get close enough to knock him out then he shouldn't be a problem…" Kat's train off thought was cut off when Toad kicked her away from the side. "Seriously Toad, you remember what happened the last time we fought right?"
"Yeah and I'm out for revenge!" Toad responded before he pounced towards Kat, she sidestepped him easily and he would've fallen off the roof if not for Kat's timely intervention. "History will remember Magneto as someone who was right about humans and mutants not being able to work together!"
"You've only spoken two sentences to me and you're already annoying me." Kat sighed before she knocked out Toad and tossed him aside. "Give it up Pyro, you know you can't beat me in a straight up fight!"
"That's why I'm not going to make the same mistake Toad did!" Pyro responded before he let lose with some more flames and whilst Kat was able to duck under the flames her extended wings still managed to clip on some of the flames burning them.
"You'd think that, given my fire breathing abilities, my wings would be as impervious to fire as the insides of my mouth and throat." Kat thought with a wince as she pulled away from Pyro and glanced at her burnt wings. "Then again I learned the hard way that the rest of my body isn't impervious to flames either, or against Pyro to boot." Kat thought as she saw the cab door open and US1 come out of the truck. "Huh, I somehow completely forgot about him."
"I was just making my rounds in my truck and I somehow got transported to New York City." US1 commented as he landed beside Magneto. "And then Magneto here had to try to use my truck as weapon, what the heck is going on exactly?!"
"Kat, Green Arrow here, when I heard the words "Super Powered Truck Driver" I had to see it for myself." Green Arrow's voice rang out as she dodged more flames. "More to the point, he's on our side right."
"Yes, the truck driver with the steel plate in his head that can pick up radio signals somehow is on our side!" Kat responded before pausing for a minute. "It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?"
"Sounds like it." Green Arrow nodded as he surveyed the action. "I'd volunteer to go down there and help out but many of the components on my arrows are made of metal, I don't think they'd do much good against a guy with the power to control magnetism."
"To be fair, sad master of magnets is currently busy suspending that truck drivers upgraded truck, which may or may not be sentient, I've heard conflicting stories from Cap and the other Avengers about it." Kat responded before pausing again. "You ever get those days when your like "I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning."?"
"If that's what your feeling about this situation, then I agree." Green Arrow sighed before glancing over his shoulder. "Okay, you've got two options for backup, Booster Gold or Deadpool."
"Please tell me your kidding?" Kat asked with a face-palm as she backed away from Puro. "I seriously have to chose between a mentally unstable anti-hero who'd probably challenge Batman to a staring contest if he could or a guy with an ego the size of Texas!?"
"I know the options aren't great but the Alverez twins got the day off to spend with their parents and everyone else is otherwise occupied." Green Arrow explained and Kat let out possible the loudest sigh of her life up to that moment.
"You know what? Screw it, let's go as far down the rabbit hole as we can!" Kat declared as she ran a hand down her face. "Send them both!"
"Wait, I thought Deadpool wasn't an official league member?" Yuri chimed in with a tone of voice that indicated that she shared Kat's sentiments.
"He isn't but Superman isn't comfortable letting someone that unstable lose so he's being kept under close supervision up here." J'onn chimed in and the two Asian women shook their heads. "Brace yourselves." J'onn sighed as he beamed the two men down.
"Booster Gold is here to save the day!" Booster Gold exclaimed once he beamed down earning bemused looks from everyone who hadn't met him yet. "Let's get these evil mutants Skeets!" Booster added as he flew towards the enemies.
"Finally! Deadpool has come back to this crossover fanfic!" Deadpool exclaimed in his best Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson impression once he was beamed down and drew his sword. "Now, do I assist the original character from China or the original character from Japan?"
"Help out Hawk first, he's dealing with The Blob!" Kat instructed him and Deadpool nodded before charging towards the Blob. "I don't know how, and I don't know why, but I must've committed some grand sin in a past life and this is the universe punishing me for it! Both universes for that matter!" Kat thought with an annoyed sigh before she nodded towards Booster and they flew towards Pyro.
"Oh great, we have to deal with Deadpool too?!" Pyro exclaimed as he used his flames to keep Booster Gold and Dragon Girl at bay. "And who are you supposed to be? The Golden Shower?!"
"I am Booster Gold and don't you…..." Booster trailed off as he heard Kat barely contain a snigger at the Golden Shower comment. "You realize that I've been in the league longer than you right?"
"So, has most of the League, difference is most of the league doesn't have an over inflated ego!" Kat pointed out and Booster went to retort but couldn't find the words. "Either way, I was put in charge of this mission by J'onn, see if you can keep Pyro busy long enough for me to get in close."
"You got it!" Booster nodded before he flew around Pyro and the fire throwing Supervillain kept his flames trained on him. "Things are getting a bit hot over here!"
"If you can't stand the heat Booster Gold then stay out of the kitchen!" Pyro bellowed out as he sprayed his flames around whilst Deadpool kept the Blob at bay with his sword swings. "Damn it, where's Avalanche?!"
"You mean this guy?" Yuri asked rhetorically as she dropped the unconscious Avalanche by Hawk's feet. "Yeah, we weren't a big fan of the guy with the ability to cause earthquakes causing this building to collapse from under us, so we took him out a while ago."
"Ugh, that's…" Pyro trailed off as it dawned on him. "Okay, I'll admit that that's a fair point, this building seems pretty big so those of us who can't fly would've been severely injured at worst."
"Is that counting the big rig falling on top of Magneto's head or not?" Kat wondered before shaking her head and flying up to Pyro. "Oh and by the way, you've just flamed out." Kat added before knocking Pyro out with a punch. "Give it up Magneto, you can't beat all of us."
"That's where your wrong Dragon Girl." Magneto responded as he got ready to swing the big rig like a baseball bat using his powers. "The Blob will withstand your hits and whilst this truck isn't the most wieldy weapon I've used…" Magneto trailed off before he, The Blob and the unconscious Brotherhood members were teleported away, Yuri acted quickly once she realized that the truck was about to drop onto a busy city street and summoned up the biggest wind hand she could muster to hold it up.
"Kat, Hawk, Dove, anyone with Super Strength." Yuri winced as she felt a massive headache coming on from exerting herself so much. "Please take the big rig out of my hands before I have an aneurysm."
"We're on it!" Hawk nodded in response before he, Dove and Kat flew moved towards the big rig and took it out of the range of Yuri's wind hand and set it down safely on the street. "You okay US1?" Hawk asked as he turned to the truck driver/superhero.
"I'll be okay, didn't think I'd be taken for a ride like that." US1 responded as he shook his head just as Yuri dropped to her knees. "I think Silent Tempest is the one you should be focusing on."
"Don't worry about her." J'onn's voice rang out through their earpieces before Yuri was teleported up to the Watchtower. "I will see to it that Yuriko is tended to by the Watchtower's physicians."
"Good to know," Hawk nodded before he turned to Kat. "So, Yuri's powers do have a limit?"
"Yeah, her control over the wind is telepathy based so she has to be careful not to create anything to big, otherwise she's putting her health at serious risk." Kat nodded with a frown on her face. "The last time she created anything that big she was on the injured reserve list for over a week, she wasn't kidding about the risk of an aneurysm either, if she creates anything the size of a small skyscraper for example then the resulting damage to her brain will not be pretty."
"We will have to monitor that, as powerful as Yuri is, we can't have her risking her health and well-being." J'onn chimed in over the earpieces and Kat realized something.
"J'onn, do you have any idea what happened to Magneto and his goons?" Kat asked as she put a hand to her earpiece. "We had the battle won but they were teleported away before they could be completely dealt with."
"If you're asking if I teleported them away, no I didn't." J'onn responded as he shook his head. "I would rather that such dangerous villains were brought to justice, even the weakest member of the team, this Toad, seems to be extremely dangerous."
"To a non-powered or low level power Superhero? Maybe but against someone like Super Strength like me? He was never going to last long in the fight." Kat responded as she shook her head. "That just leaves one question, where did they go exactly?!"
"Regardless of where they went, we will be keeping a close eye on them, Green Arrow will take over for Yuri whilst she's in the med bay and I'll teleport US1, Booster Gold, Deadpool and your father's former colleague up to the Watchtower." J'onn responded and Kat's frown deepened.
"So, what are we going to do with US1's truck?" Kat asked as she scratched her head. "I've lived in New York for two years now and let me tell you, you can't just leave a big rig in the middle of a street in New York without someone complaining."
"We'll figure that out once I'm down there though it might require that US1 remains down there whilst we figure out what to do with it." Green Arrow responded and Kat nodded. "A truck driving Superhero, Black Canary is not going to believe this."
"Sad thing is? That's the least convoluted part of his story." Kat sighed as she glanced towards the truck. "We're ready when you are Arrow."
"See you in a bit." Green Arrow responded before hanging up and moments later Deadpool, Booster Gold and Malcolm were teleported away leaving Green Arrow in their place. "Ready when you are, Kat." Green Arrow nodded before they set to work.
*later, back in Star City*
By now Adriana and Claudia had returned home from their meal out with their parents and Batman was already working on getting their parents a new home leaving Adriana and Claudia alone in their apartment.
"Man, I'm stuffed!" Adriana commented as she plopped down onto the sofa, her twin sister soon joined her, and the two eighteen year olds just sat in front of the TV channel surfing for a while. "I can't remember the last time we had a meal out with mom and dad now that I think about it, even back before this whole mess started."
"It's definitely been way to long Addy, but it was nice to see them again either way." Claudia nodded in agreement as she glanced over at her younger sister. "Almost enough to make me homesick." Claudia added and Adriana raised an eyebrow.
"Almost? Don't tell me your getting attached to this dimension already?" Adriana asked as she shifted her weight. "I mean yeah, we have nicer digs here than back home, no one is thinking twice about the fact that we're mutants, we were invited to join the League on practically the same day we jumped over and okay, I'm beginning to see your point!" Adriana admitted getting a laugh out of her older sister. "Still, there are some things I'm missing from back home, like that great Mexican restaurant that was right around the corner from our apartment back home."
"One of the few places in New York that doesn't do Tex-Mex you mean?" Claudia asked with a chuckle and Adriana nodded in response. "Addy, I've been meaning to ask you something about that assignment you got last night but I didn't want to ask it in front of our parents."
"Didn't want to worry them to much about their "baby girl" right?" Adriana asked with an annoyed look on her face, despite being the youngest member of the family if there was one thing Adriana hated, it was being reminded of it and Claudia knew that as she shook her head.
"No, not like that, well, okay maybe a little but not in so many condescending terms." Claudia clarified as she turned to her younger sister. "When I went for that long bathroom break I gave Green Arrow a call and he said that not only did he not give you that assignment but the league hadn't authorized an all-nighter assignment for anyone in Star City, and given that this is Green Arrow's home turf, he would know."
"Maybe he merely forgot about it?" Adriana suggested with a shrug and whilst on the outside she was remaining calm the inside was a different story. "Crap, I should've thought about this!"
"If it was just Green Arrow not backing up your story, maybe I'd believe that." Claudia responded as she shook her head. "But the League isn't backing it up either and I saw through those lies you were telling me earlier, you're not doing yourself any favours by lying about League Assignments Addy, you know that!"
"So, what if I lied?!" Adriana asked as she started to get defensive. "I may be the youngest between us Claudia but we're both eighteen! I'm not a kid anymore, I can go out at night!"
"That may be true but lying to not only me but your fellow League members?" Claudia pointed out and Adriana's eyes narrowed at her tone of voice. "This isn't like you, your better than this! We both know that! And you know you can tell me anything, even if it'll get you in trouble with the League."
"What exactly are you saying?!" Adriana demanded and Claudia went to respond but couldn't find the words, Adriana let out a deep breath before she stood up. "Forget it, I don't want the day our parents were found to end like this, I'm retiring for the night!"
"Addy, it's only 7:00pm." Claudia pointed out and her sister ignored her as Adriana made her way towards the open door to her room. "And don't think I'm done with you!"
"Yeah, well, I'm done with this fucking…..." Adriana never finished her sentence as Claudia used her powers to slam the door shut on her, Adriana tried the knob but found that Claudia's powers were preventing it from turning. "What the hell sis?"
"You may be done but I'm not." Claudia responded simply as she turned to her younger sister. "Besides, this isn't exactly the first time you've shut yourself off from the world in a stressful situation."
"Yeah, and it's worked out well for me before." Adriana countered as she folded her arms. "Besides, you can't keep me out of my room all night, at some point you'll have to get up to go pee, unless your bladder's completely empty from that massive piss break at the restaurant."
"Don't tempt me." Claudia responded simply before motioning to a spot next to her on the couch. "Besides that, I can always put Frozen on through Disney+."
"You had to use my favourite Disney Movie against me, didn't you?" Adriana sighed in defeat before returning to the couch. "Sure, I mean, I've already watched that film about six hundred times since we saw it in the movie theatre but bring up the League Assignments issue again tonight and I'm entering my room through the window."
"Deal." Claudia nodded before she put the movie on, it was nearly nine o'clock by the time the movie finished and by then Claudia had relented and allowed Adriana to retire to her room once the movie was over, once she was alone though Claudia let out a deep breath. "Didn't think she'd get that defensive, what exactly is she hiding?" Claudia thought as she turned off the TV, she heard the tell-tale sound of her getting a text message and she reached over to her phone to read it.
"Claudia, I just got off shift, had to fill in for Yuri after she exerted herself during a mission." Green Arrow's text message read out as Claudia leaned back in the chair. "She's going to be fine, but as a precaution she's being taken off the active roster for health reasons, should be back in action by next week, in the meantime, any updates on Adriana?" Green Arrow's text concluded, and Claudia quickly typed a reply.
"That always was a risk, given the nature of her powers." Claudia responded as she typed the text message, she stepped out onto the apartment's balcony so that Adriana wouldn't hear her talking with Green Arrow. "Do you have time for a quick phone call?" Claudia added and moments after she sent the text, she got the call from Green Arrow. "Hola Green Arrow, wish I was calling you with better news."
"Claudia, I've met a truck driving superhero today, at this point no amount of news could bring me down." Green Arrow responded semi-jokingly and Claudia blinked a few times as it sunk in.
"Truck driving superhero, who? Oh, he must mean US1!" Claudia thought before nodding. "Yeah, I know who you mean, me and Adriana had to help him out on a mission once because Baron Blimp had made his way to New York." Claudia explained as she leaned forward on the balcony. "Anyway, I spoke with Addy about the lies she was telling me and the rest of the League, what I was expecting was for her to come clean and tell me what was really going on, instead she got defensive and almost walked out on the conversation before I used my powers to lock her room."
"Baron Blimp?! What?! You know what, I'm not going to ask." Green Arrow responded once he got over his confusion. "So, to recap, Adriana's lied about League Assignments, lied to her own sister and got defensive about it when questioned, what exactly is going through her head?"
"If I knew, I'd tell you, unfortunately neither me nor Adriana got the ability to read minds when our powers awoke." Claudia sighed as she drummed her fingers against the balcony's railing. "I know you've only known us for a few days but this isn't like her, Adriana can get hot headed sure but lying this much so out of character for her that it's not even funny, which might explain why her lies had so many holes in them." Claudia added as she glanced towards her sister's room. "Worst part is, I've always been one of her closest confidants even before we became superheroes, she knows she can talk to me about anything from a bad break up to that time she accidentally searched for Pornhub on google too…"
"Hold it, hold it." Green Arrow's clearly amused voice cut her off and Claudia face-palmed knowing what was coming. "How does one "accidentally" search for Pornhub?"
"Through an incredibly specific set of circumstances." Claudia sighed as she ran a hand down her face. "We were at a camp for the summer with another family that we are friends with, me and Addy had just turned twelve at the time but the other family had a son who was a few years older than us, sixteen, maybe seventeen? Point is, we were staying in a log cabin and Addy asked to use his laptop for homework because hers had just died." Claudia added before laughing a bit. "She had finished the homework by that point and had gone on to google to look up some pony pictures and somehow misread "porn" as "pony", Adriana woke me up to show me what she was watching, more out of confusion than "hey sis, look at this cool video I found on ponies" and let's just say that we got a crash course in sex education that night."
"Sad thing is? I'd pay good money to be the fly on the wall for when the parents found out." Green Arrow chuckled and Claudia grinned in response. "But back to the serious topic, part of me wants to believe that she's found a boy she really likes and is embarrassed to talk to her sister about it but why go to this much length if that was the case?"
"You obviously hadn't met a teenage Superhero of either gender with a crush." Claudia chuckled before sighing. "I don't want to believe it's drugs, especially because of the cousin I told you about earlier, but I'm stumped for what else it could be."
"Let's hope that we're wrong about this, I'm going to retire for the night Claudia, have a good night." Green Arrow responded and Claudia nodded before Green Arrow hung up, Claudia pocketed her phone before glancing over at her sister's room again.
"Damn it, Addy, what are you hiding?" Claudia thought before yawning. "I'm not going to get any answers out here, and it is getting late, so I guess I'll retire for the night as well." Claudia thought before she went into her room.
*meanwhile in Adriana's room*
Adriana had been on her laptop since Frozen ended and was surfing the internet to kill time before she went to bed.
"I swear to god, I'm going to have half that movie's soundtrack stuck in my head for the rest of the week! Especially "Let It Go"!" Adriana groaned as she ran a hand through her hair, by now her day clothes were in the laundry bin alongside the Lo Divino costume and Adriana was in her nightgown ready for when she would eventually go to sleep. "Still can't believe I let Claudia talk me into singing that at a high school talent show, if anything that incident taught me that singing is definitely not something that I'm good at, still not as bad as Marco though." Adriana commented to herself before she heard her phone go off and grabbed it.
It was a text from Rachel, once Adriana opened it, she couldn't help but grin. "You wanted a pic of me in my underwear, right?" Rachel texted her before accompanying the text with just that, a picture of Adriana's new girlfriend in lacey underwear at an angle where Adriana got a good view of Rachel's large breasts which told her that it was a selfie. "I had to model this stuff for the clothing line, but I figured you'd appreciate the sneak preview." The follow up text added, and Adriana grinned before typing her reply.
"Next time, just send me a nude or two." Adriana responded and once she hit send Adriana leaned back in her chair with both hands linked behind her head. "Maybe I should just come clean and come out as a lesbian, if I keep these lies up then I'm going to be in serious trouble with the Justice League." Adriana thought with a sigh as she stared at the ceiling, she got another text and checked it but couldn't help but laugh at Rachel's reply.
"Next time I'm doing an OnlyFans vid I'll keep that in mind, but I couldn't exactly strip down to nothing for a non-pornographic shoot so that's all your getting for now." Rachel responded and Adriana responded.
"Just make sure that it's worth the wait, in the meantime I'll make do with my memories of your naked body from last night." Adriana responded before hitting send. "I can't risk coming out too soon, if my parents disown me then I don't know what I'd do with myself." Adriana thought as she glanced at her phone. "I definitely need to make a habit of taking my phone out with me until I do come out of the closet though, I can't risk Claudia stumbling upon my text exchange with Rachel whilst I'm out!" Adriana thought before yawning and going to bed. "But when I do come out, it'll be when I'm ready and not on anyone else's time!"
*the next morning*
Despite the argument last night Adriana and Claudia were ready the next morning for the day with the Justice League, however the twins ended up having a lie in which ended with them arriving late to the Watchtower.
"Unfortunately, as you two had missed your chance to receive assignments you'll be spending the day at the Watchtower." Superman commented as the twins accompanied him to the holochamber. "But as soon as you there's a spot available for whatever reason you'll be the first to know."
"Sorry, we forgot to set our alarm clocks." Claudia admitted as the twins walked behind the much taller superhero. "How's Yuri by the way?"
"She's recovering but it'll still be a few days before she is cleared for action." Superman responded as he glanced over at Claudia. "Now then, today's holochamber session was for Adriana on her own but I'm sure Claudia won't mind watching."
"Fine, I prefer playing with myself anyway, especially if there's an audience." Adriana responded only to instantly regret her choice of words when she saw the look on Claudia and Superman's faces. "I don't know what's worse, the fact that I didn't catch the sentence before it came out of my mouth or the fact that I just said that in front of my sister!" Adriana groaned as she blushed like a madwoman before running a hand down her face. "Can we just pretend that I never said that and move on with our lives?"
"I wish I could do the same for pretty much every lie she told me yesterday, and that's not counting how defensive she got when I questioned her about it." Claudia thought as the trio entered the holochamber, however they found that someone else was waiting for them. "Kat?!" Claudia asked once she saw the Chinese girl in the Dragon Girl costume.
"I was wondering when Adriana was going to show up." Kat responded as she cracked her fingers cockily. "Yeah, spoiler alert, Addy, your sparring with me today." Kat added ad Adriana grinned as she stepped forward.
"Fine, I was getting tired of beating up holograms anyway." Adriana responded as she folded her arms. "Though when I was told that Superman was overseeing my training, I thought I'd be sparring with him."
"The reason I paired you two up for this session is that you both have displayed discipline issues whilst on missions." Superman continued as he made his way towards the control room. "Kat has a tendency to rush off into battle without thinking first and Adriana's cockiness is becoming notorious among the other League members, as you two are off a similar power level, I thought this would be a good opportunity for you two to sort out these issues the old fashioned way before they ended with either you, a fellow League member or a civilian severely injured."
"Besides that, Addy, I sparred against an evil hologram of Superman, even though he was a hologram, I was feeling his blows for days on end afterwards." Kat continued as she circled around her sparring partner. "Take it from me, you don't want to spar with the real deal."
"Yeah, I'm not about to argue with that." Adriana nodded with a gulp as she got ready for battle. "Hope your ready for this Kat."
"And I'll say the same thing to you Addy." Kat nodded as she got into position, meanwhile Superman and Claudia had headed into the control room where Green Arrow was waiting for them.
"I'll admit, this is a sparring match I've wanted to see since Adriana jumped over, just get me a bag of popcorn and I'll be all set." Green Arrow admitted as he put his feet up. "Well, that and Claudia vs. Kat but Claudia's not the one with the cockiness issues."
"We'll pair Claudia off against Kat at some point Ollie, you don't have to worry about that." Superman nodded before frowning as he turned to his companions. "I understand that you weren't able to get a straight answer out of Adriana?"
"Much as I'd like to say otherwise, no." Claudia responded as she shook her head. "The more I pressed, the more defensive she got, and as her older sister, this behavior is worrying the hell out of me." Claudia added as she folded her arms. "The cockiness just comes from her competitive nature which Addy had even before we got superpowers, but the constant lies? That is far from normal for her."
"At this point, the only thing we can do is hope that we're wrong about her possibly being on drugs." Green Arrow nodded in agreement as he watched the monitor. "And if she is, we can persuade her to get the help she needs."
"We can only help that we never get to that point." Superman nodded as he turned on the microphone. "You ladies can start whenever you're ready."
"That's just what I wanted to hear!" Adriana responded before the two women flew towards each other.
"Again, I'm sorry we slept in." Claudia apologized once the microphone was off. "But has anyone else been found? We know that US1 and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants were found yesterday in New York."
"And the fact that your dimension has, or, had a truck driving Superhero will never cease to amuse me by the way." Green Arrow chimed in as he watched the two female superheroes trade blows. "By the way, I know you girls have flight and control over dark and light energy, but I am seeing signs of Super Strength."
"Si, seems we got lucky on the Superpower lottery." Claudia nodded as she watched her sister spar with Kat. "We're not at the same level as Kat but we're still decently strong, to the point where most criminals surrender the moment, we show up to break up their bank robbery attempts." Claudia added before glancing at Superman. "And as for my question?"
"Sorry, I got caught up watching the fight." Superman apologized as he watched the action. "Aside from the ones you know about, yesterday seemed to be filled with us finding low level heroes and villains, Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night, Spider-Woman for the Superheroes and the three members of US1's Rogues Gallery, Highwayman, Midnight and Baron Blimp, and yes I did have to repeatedly ensure Vixen's team that those villains did in fact frequently battle a truck driving Superhero."
"I can only imagine the looks on their faces when they realised that you weren't kidding." Claudia chuckled as she watched her sister trade blows with Kat. "Come to think of it, don't you guys already have a blimp themed Supervillain in this dimension?"
"You mean Colonel Blimp? Things are going to get confusing with both guys running about." Green Arrow responded as he shook his head. "Our Blimp is a z-list Batman villain who went quiet for several decades before re-emerging a couple of years ago, I think Batman thinks so lowly off him that he usually just sends one of his sidekicks to deal with him."
"Just watch out for when the Colonel and the Baron team up, then we'll really be in trouble!" Claudia chuckled sarcastically in response as Adriana used a flash of white light to knock Kat back. "They'll probably spend most of their scheme trying to figure out how to make their blimps capable of space flight so they could attack the Watchtower."
"Look, all I'm saying is that if they actually pulled that scheme off, I'd be half tempted to let them board just so they can realize how seriously flawed that scheme is." Green Arrow responded with a laugh as he sat up straight. "Even with most of the league on the ground right now, we have several people with Super Strength, flight and a whole host of other abilities, my arrows, Travis's weird dream powers and Yuri's wind powers, even if she's still undergoing the medical tests."
"If they were smart, they'd meekly return to their blimps and try to return to Earth without burning up on re-entry, but that wouldn't be as fun." Superman chuckled in response before watching the two girls exchange submission holds. "Didn't think it'd take a turn into professional wrestling."
"And since this isn't professional wrestling, I'm putting a stop to it." Green Arrow commented before turning on the microphone. "Girls, need I remind you that this isn't Professional Wrestling and I really don't want either of you joining Yuriko in the med bay with broken bones."
"Right, sorry!" Kat apologized before letting go of Adriana and helping her up. "But it was Addy's idea!"
"You started it!" Adriana countered as she shook the arm that Kat just had in a Cross-Arm Breaker.
"And I'm finishing it, don't make me sic Justice Lord Superman on you two." Green Arrow warned them, and the two girls gulped before resuming their sparring match. "Do you want to consider that a black mark against them or not?" Green Arrow asked as he turned to Superman.
"It's unlikely that we'll get a straight answer as to who's idea it was to start applying those holds so no." Superman responded as he shook his head. "But if they do it again, that's a black mark for both of them."
*over at the fight*
The sparring match between Kat and Adriana had been going on for a while now with the only break being when they were told to stop using submission holds, still neither woman was willing to give up the fight just yet.
"Are you ready to give up the fight yet Addy?" Kat asked cockily as she got into a fighting stance. "I can do this all day, and I can see from here that your arm is aching from my submission hold."
"Please, I could do this for two days straight with both hands tied behind my back!" Adriana bragged as she paced around her opponent. "Not that I'm in a hurry to prove that!"
"I was about to say, I'm pretty sure we could lend you some rope up here sis." Claudia responded through the microphone and Adriana glanced up at her older sister and the older heroes. "But if you don't want to do that, suit yourself!"
"Yeah, the only time I want to have my hands tied by a member of the same sex is when I'm alone with Rachel in her bedroom, and even if I was out of the closet that's not something I can discuss in polite company." Adriana thought before Kat charged forward to resume the fight and whilst Kat managed to get a few good blows in thanks to the element of surprise, once that wore off Adriana and Kat were back on even footing. "Cheap shot!"
"Hey, you were the one who had your back turned!" Kat retorted before Adriana kicked her back and followed that up with a light energy blast which knocked her into one of the holographic buildings. "If you can't stay focused than I've got this fight in the bag."
"I can stay focused!" Adriana retorted before Kat emerged from the building and resumed trading blows with the older woman. "Okay, maybe not whilst thinking about Rachel, then again the last time I was this close to another woman's face was when I was having sex with her so what do…..." Adriana's train of thought was derailed when Kat landed a couple of solid blows before landing the finishing blow knocking her to the ground. "Okay, I give already!" Adriana conceded as she struggled to get back to her feet from the heavy blows.
"So much for staying focused huh?" Kat asked as she landed next to the shorter woman and helped Adriana up. "I'm up for another fight if you are Addy."
"That'll have to wait for another day, I want Adriana to get checked up because she was struggling to get back to her feet." Superman intervened and Adriana briefly noted how close she was to her friend's face before she left the holochamber. "If you want another fight, then Claudia can take over from her sister."
"I'll take five first, Adriana put up a better fight than I expected." Kat admitted as the door closed behind Adriana, once she was alone Adriana briefly removed her Lo Divino mask and checked her face using her phone's camera feature.
"Kat's a lot stronger than me, so the bruises I was expecting." Adriana thought as she checked her face. "But the blush? I'm not about to deny that Kat's a beautiful woman but she's made it clear that she's straight, not to mention that she's dating Marco." Adriana thought before pocketing the phone and putting her mask back on. "The blush should be gone by the time I'm in the med bay so that's one awkward explanation eliminated, at least Yuri will be good company." Adriana thought before she made her way to the med bay to get checked up.
*back at the control room*
"Adriana was performing well in that sparring match." Green Arrow noted as he folded his arms. "Especially considering how evident it was that Kat is stronger than her, then she started to slip up towards the end."
"That could be attributed to fatigue, that was a long fight." Claudia pointed out with a frown as she folded her arms. "But she was getting distracted several times towards the end, like something was weighing heavily on her mind."
"Whatever it was, we should keep an eye on her." Superman nodded before the door to the control room opened and Kat stepped in.
"Okay, is there something you're not telling me about Adriana?" Kat asked as she removed her mask and walked up to the other heroes. "That wasn't our first sparring match, just our first in this dimension, but that was the first time she slipped up that badly."
"I didn't want to say it, but I noticed that as well." Claudia nodded as she turned to Kat. "That's not the first time she slipped up that badly either, during yesterday's battle royal she let herself get distracted at a critical moment which cost us the chance to beat her time from the previous day, but we fear that there might be something more serious afoot."
"Like what?" Kat asked with a raised eyebrow and Superman sighed.
"Let me make this clear Kat, we have no proof of any of this, right now this is just speculation on our part." Superman stated and Kat nodded as she got the idea. "With that said, we're worried that Adriana may have turned to drugs due to the stress of the current situation."
"Adriana doing drugs, no offense but I'd sooner believe that Deadpool was invited to join the Justice League." Kat responded with a skeptical look on her face before she turned to Claudia. "You did explain your family's reason for moving from Mexico, right Claudia?"
"Si, they know, which is what makes her behavior so worrying." Claudia nodded as she turned to Kat. "Problem is, she's been acting out of character outside of combat as well, lying about League Assignments and getting defensive when questioned about it as I learned the hard way last night, even if she isn't on drugs, Adriana's behavior is not helping her case."
"Yeah, that is bad, I'll grant you that." Kat nodded with a concerned look on her face before an idea popped into her head. "Superman, aren't me and Marco set for League duty soon?"
"Yes, you are to assist Nightwing with busting a drug smuggling operation in Bludhaven." Superman nodded before frowning as he got the idea. "You can't honestly expect me to send a suspected drug user on a mission like that, right?"
"It's not ideal but I want to see if Adriana's performance is being affected during a real fight, we can only learn so much from these sparring matches and Battle Royals." Kat nodded and Superman had to admit that she had a point. "Besides, she has three other heroes keeping an eye on her."
"Make that four." Claudia volunteered as she stood up. "We can't expect you, Marco or Nightwing to be everywhere at once, with me there you have an extra set of eyes to keep an eye on her."
"Alright, I'll call Nightwing to clear this up with him, but this shouldn't be an issue, once Adriana's medically cleared, you'll be beamed down to Bludhaven." Superman nodded before Kat and Claudia left the holochamber.
"Claudia, give it to me straight." Kat said with a sigh as she turned to the shorter woman. "Do you think your sister's on drugs?"
"Right now, I don't know what to think about Adriana and that's the honest truth." Claudia admitted as she took a deep breath. "We've always had an open door policy with each other regarding any problems we're facing so for her to be this secretive with me, something must be weighing heavily on her mind."
"Let's hope that we can figure out what before it's too late." Kat nodded before the two women left the holochamber.
(Author's note: please don't forget to leave a review)