Once Adriana had gotten changed Claudia had allowed Adriana to cook herself a fresh breakfast though the tension between them was still there.
"At least I don't have to worry about being late to a morning shift on the Watchtower." Adriana thought as she prepared her breakfast, which also happened to be the twins' favourite breakfast disk, Huevos Rancheros or ranch eggs, a fried egg dish served in a tortilla and smothered with a cooked salsa. "Look, I'm sorry I worried you so much, okay?" Adriana said as she glanced over at her sister who was standing nearby with the same frown on her facer and her arms crossed. "Time just got away from me last night."
"You didn't return until fifteen minutes ago Addy, and it's nearly midday." Claudia pointed out with a frown on her face as she watched her sister cook. "That's not time getting away from you, that's you somehow leaving space and time entirely and not returning until a few minutes ago! And you still haven't explained what you were doing last night."
"Yeah well, somehow, I doubt my sister wants to know that I had sex with two other women I had just met through my new girlfriend, not to mention the fact that I'm a lesbian!" Adriana thought as she continued to cook the dish. "I'd rather not say, besides, you're not mom and I'm eighteen, I don't have to answer to you!"
"She's getting defensive again, and considering she's preparing her breakfast I'd better soften my tone before she ends up with hot oil all over her face." Claudia thought before letting out a deep breath. "That may be true Addy and going out for a couple of hours? That I can understand, especially after the day you had yesterday." Claudia stated as she stepped forward. "But you were out all night, again and the League is starting to get concerned."
"I don't see how what I do in my spare time is any of the League's business, especially now that I'm suspended!" Adriana pointed out and Claudia sighed.
"It is when it's affecting your performance, in the training sessions or in the field! Or do I need to bring up the battle royal or the sparring match against Kat again?" Claudia pointed out and Adriana went to respond but couldn't find the words. "And it's funny that you bring up mom because our parents called me last night just as I was going to bed, they called you multiple times and you didn't answer."
"And depending on what time that was, I was either playing progressively raunchier games with Rachel and her friends or having a threesome, take you pick." Adriana thought before plating up the eggs and getting the salsa ready. "I know they had been texting me ever since the news about what I almost did to Raymundo spread outside of Bludhaven, but what did you expect me to say? Tell my parents that we would've been dead long ago if we had stayed in Mexico? I knew I couldn't hide from it forever, the issue was, what the hell was I going to tell them?!"
"Finally, a straight answer! And a reasonable one at that!" Claudia responded as she took a deep breath and Adriana rolled her eyes at her sister's sass. "You don't have to worry about that, because it ended up falling to me to tell them everything!" Claudia responded and Adriana winced at her tone of voice. "It hurt to hear mom's heart break over the phone when she learned the truth about Raymundo but with that new information, they aren't holding your actions against you." Claudia explained and Adriana said nothing, merely nodding meekly as she processed the information.
"You're about to say that I should still call them, aren't you?" Adriana asked as she plated the salsa and moved the plate over to the table and Claudia nodded. "I will, as soon as I eat my breakfast, I'll get right on the phone to them., you have my word."
"That's the thing Addy, with your recent lies, I'm not even sure if I can take you at your word anymore." Claudia stated matter of factly, and Adriana said nothing in response, however the look on her face was all Claudia needed to know that her comments had cut into her younger sister deeply. "Look, I'm set to start my shift at the Watchtower in about an hour, the jump overs seem to have slowed down since the incident in New York so it should be a relatively quiet shift, but as soon as I'm somewhere with a decent wi-fi connection and reception I'm calling mom and dad to make sure that you stuck to your word, deal?"
"Deal, now can I please eat my breakfast in peace?" Adriana requested and Claudia nodded before heading into her room to check her make-up before putting her mask on, however as she looked at herself in the mirror, she felt incredibly guilty over what she just said.
"I know that needed to be said but I feel terrible for chewing Addy out like that." Claudia thought as she glanced up at her younger sister as Adriana ate her breakfast. "The older League Members will agree that Adriana needed to hear that, she's becoming too reckless and I needed to put a stop to it before she hurt herself or others, I can only hope that she takes my words to heart." Claudia thought before putting her mask on. "J'onn, I'm ready to be beamed up, I think Adriana wants to be alone for a few hours."
"Understood, Green Arrow and Black Canary are off duty today, but I can ask him to check on Adriana if you'd like." J'onn offered and Claudia paused before nodding.
"Sure, just give her a few hours to mull over what I told her." Claudia nodded before being beamed up.
*later*
Adriana hadn't left the apartment since she returned from her night at Rachel's and right now, she was playing on the PS4 that the twins had hooked up to the TV whilst laying on the couch.
"Never thought gaming would get boring." Adriana thought with a sigh as she turned off the PS4 after dying in GTA Online. "There's a certain irony in a Superhero like me playing a game like Grand Theft Auto V, can't help but wonder what the Justice League would think of me playing this."
"So, do you usually play a game that encourages you to be a criminal on your downtime?" Green Arrow's voice rang out and Adriana shrugged.
"This game was the first M Rated game we brought and aside from the attempted murder of Raymundo, we haven't broken the law yet." Adriana countered before blinking a couple of times and sitting up to face the door way, sure enough Green Arrow and Black Canary were in the apartment in their civilian guises and Adriana shook her head. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough to watch you kill my former sidekick Speedy a few times." Green Arrow chuckled and Adriana shook her head. "What? Did you think you were the only gamer on the League?"
"Let's see, Claudia goes without saying since we brought the PS4 together, Yuri and Marco have Gaming PCs, Travis and Pierre play tabletop and video games and don't get me started on how many retro game consoles Yuri has back home, and that's just the ones I know about." Adriana listed her friends off the top of her head before shifting her weight. "Seriously, I thought you guys were off duty today? Unless Claudia wanted you to check on me after my argument with her?"
"Yeah, and she told us everything." Black Canary nodded and Adriana let out an annoyed sigh. "To be honest, we agree with what Claudia told you…..."
"Off course you do." Adriana responded as she rolled her eyes before glancing up at the older heroes. "If Claudia asked you to check on me following certain comments she made, I'm fine, I've spent most of the afternoon taking out my frustration on other players in GTA Online which, whilst nowhere near as fun, is definitely a lot better than taking that frustration out on a criminal in real life."
"Okay, whilst I'm not a fan of the GTA series, I can see your logic there." Green Arrow admitted with a nod before handing something to the teen. "In the meantime though, this might interest you, local Mexican restaurant is looking for a new waitress, and yes, Claudia did ask if it was authentic or not and I can assure you, it is, for one thing most of the clientele and staff are Latino, not exclusively Mexican mind you but the food I've had there is delicious."
"I swear, if Alex works there when she's not doing OnlyFans stuff I'll laugh." Adriana thought as she looked over the wanted ad. "Me and Claudia have been talking about starting a cooking YouTube channel for years, we just don't have the right equipment but I guess this could be my foot in the door to the restaurant industry, surprised Claudia didn't go for it herself, she was working as a waitress back home."
"She did bring that up, apparently she was close to quitting before you jumped over with her, according to her the job's a lot more stressful than it seems." Black Canary nodded as Adriana looked it over. "It's a part-time position, so it shouldn't cut into your Superhero activity when you start going out as Lo Divino again, speaking off, when are you going out as Lo Divino again? The general public seems to be under the impression that you've gone missing after the incident in Bludhaven."
"Just a matter of waiting for the controversy to die down, I know most of the media outlets have stopped reporting on it so it should just be a matter of days." Adriana responded with a shrug before she shifted her weight, she heard her phone go off to indicate that she got a text and Adriana reached over to grab it, and promptly closed phone case when she saw the contents. "I never thought I'd complain about getting a nude selfie from Rachel, but that couldn't have been timed worse if she tried! At least they weren't playing attention." Adriana thought before putting her phone down. "By the time I'm off suspension I should be back in the swing of things, kicking ass and taking names in the name of justice."
"Glad to hear it, and if I can help the controversy go away I will." Green Arrow assured her, and Adriana nodded with a grin on her face. "Seriously Adriana, is something going on in your life? Because you haven't been yourself since we dealt with the Juggernaut."
"I wish I could just tell them that I've recently discovered that I'm gay and the anxiety of coming out is stressing me out to hell and back." Adriana thought with a sigh as she put the wanted ad on the table. "But I can't, not until I'm ready." Adriana thought before glancing up at the older heroes. "I'm fine, honestly! I guess I'm just getting a bit homesick."
"If you say so, but even under suspension, you can still talk to your fellow members of the League if you need too, including your sister." Green Arrow responded as he shook his head before he and Black Canary went to leave. "By the way, you did call your parents, right? Claudia asked us to double check since she's on Monitor Duty today."
"Called them as soon as I finished my late breakfast, that was not a fun conversation to say the least." Adriana responded with a nod and without another word, Green Arrow and Black Canary left the twins' apartment and headed to the elevator. "Note to self, if there's ever a college course on the art of lying, be one of the first to sign up! Even if it's a badly disguised Supervillain plot because I need all the help I can get in that department." Adriana thought with an annoyed sigh before she turned the PS4 back on.
"Homesick? She calls lying to the League and her sister, nearly murdering a guy and generally being a shadow of her former self homesick?" Green Arrow commented snidely as he shook his head. "Something's definitely going on with that girl, but she's a tough nut to crack."
"Yeah but if Claudia can't get a straight answer out of her own sister, then what chance do we have?" Black Canary asked with a frown as she leaned against the elevator wall. "She's a smart girl, both of them are, but Adriana's behaviour is starting to concern the whole League."
"Starting? The whole League started to get concerned when she almost murdered Raymundo, me included and I sympathized with Adriana after listening to the audio logs." Green Arrow responded as he shook his head. "She did get a text that she was quick to hide from us once she saw it's contents, maybe that has the answers."
"No, absolutely not." Black Canary responded as she folded her arms. "I'm concerned about her as well but hacking into Adriana's phone? And don't even think about suggesting that we hack her e-mails, I want to get to the bottom of this as well, but I won't breach an eighteen year old girl's privacy to do it."
"Your right, but unless we can find another way, we might need to resort to such drastic measures." Green Arrow admitted as he shook his head. "Besides, the only way I'd agree to such measures is if Claudia was completely okay with it, and as Adriana's older sister, you know she's going to have some questions as to why we want to breach her sister's privacy."
"She'd have a list of questions, and that list will be long enough to stretch around the Watchtower twice, including the different floors." Black Canary responded as they waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor. "Let's hope we can break through to her before we even have to resort to that."
"Agreed." Green Arrow nodded as they waited for the elevator to drop them off.
*meanwhile at the Legion HQ*
The villainous activities at the Legion's HQ were well underway as the group reformed itself, right under the League's noses.
"Hey boss." One of the underlings said as he approached Lex Luther whilst another restrained Turner D. Century. "Found this guy trying to break in, claims to be a Supervillain from the same dimension as Target." The underling added and Lex looked over the so called Supervillain.
"Leave him with me." Lex instructed the underling and he nodded before letting go of Turner, Lex stood there with his arms crossed impatiently as Turner straightened himself up. "Well? I'm waiting for a name?"
"I can't believe I'm degrading myself by talking to this ruffian." Turner muttered to himself as he straightened himself up. "My name is Clifford F. Michaels, as that thug mentioned, I come from the same dimension as Target, Hellraiser and Shockwave." Turner D. Century added not realising that Shockwave had heard her name and was walking up to him, "And I believe I will be an excellent addition to this group."
"You can't be fucking serious?!" Shockwave scoffed as she walked up to Turner. "Lex, you may as well let me fry him! He was a complete joke back home and he's destined to be a complete joke here! Go ahead Cliff, tell him your Supervillain identity." Shockwave added and Turner growled. "I'm waiting."
"I should not, and I will not listen to a harlot like you! You manage to make Spider-Woman look decent!" Turner D. Century spat but quickly changed his tone when Shockwave produced electricity in her hands. "Back home I operated under the name Turner D. Century, my goal is to kill everyone under the age of 60."
"Even though that would include you?" Lex pointed out as he walked up to Turner who stood his ground. "I have no place in my legion for idiots who would waste my time and resources on such frivolous and ill thought out schemes! We made that mistake once and I vowed to learn from the mistakes of my predecessor! Give me one reason why I shouldn't let Deadshot and Target use you for target practice!"
"Well, aside from the fact that he has a talent for coming back from the dead for some reason." Jessica scoffed and Turner D. Century shook his head.
"I have it on good authority that one of the League's newest members has started an illicit affair." Turner D. Century said as he cleared his throat. "The Mexican hero known as Lo Divino has started going behind the League's back to spend time with her new lover, worse yet, this "hero" is dating another woman."
"Wait, Addy's gay?!" Shockwave asked as she was clearly taken aback by this. "Where was this news when I was still on their side? Oh, and that reminds me." Shockwave added as she put one arm around Turner and produced a ball of electricity in the other hand. "Guess who happens to be a bi-sexual woman with a preference for women? That's right, me, so I'd watch what you say in the next few minutes because if you have a problem with the LGTBQ community, you won't make it out of this building alive." Shockwave warned him and Turner gulped.
"If homosexuality is so normal, why is she hiding it from the rest of the League? It's immoral…..." Turner D. Century trailed off as Shockwave growled. "My point is, if I can create enough dissension between her and the League, I can kill her! Give me a chance, that's all I ask!"
"Fine." Lex said catching Shockwave off guard. "Shockwave, take him to get his equipment upgraded, but know this Turner, this is your only chance, you won't get another one."
"I understand completely, thank you Lex." Turner nodded before he was led off by Shockwave.
"You cannot be serious about him, can you?" Target's voice rang out as he approached Luther. "That idiot was on the original Scourge organization's hitlist for a reason! Even with upgraded equipment, he's not even a threat to a fly!"
"Turner D. Century is not joining the Legion this is a trial run for him." Lex responded as he shook his head. "One that he'll undoubtedly fail based on my first impressions of him, but the news he brings us is very useful indeed, if there's dissension in the League's ranks then it'll work to our advantage!"
"Useful information or not, that idiot will compromise any mission he's put on through sheer incompetence alone." Target added as his eyes narrowed. "You are wasting your time with him."
"Don't think I haven't noticed." Lex responded as he started to walk away. "But when he does fail. It'll fall to you to silence him, after all, he was murdered by your organization's predecessor."
"Consider it done." Target nodded as he followed Lex.
*a few days later*
It had been the longest four days of her Superhero career but by now Adriana was sure that the controversy over her attempted murder of Raymundo had died down enough to allow her to go out as Lo Divino again and was waiting for the right opportunity to announce that fact, and as her friends would say, you couldn't beat the classics.
"Everyone, get on the ground now!" The leader of the gang of thugs shouted as he and the five other members of his gang ran into the bank guns drawn, once they saw the guns the patrons wasted no time in complying as he ran up to the teller. "We're here to make a withdrawal, and if no one tries to be the hero, we'll be on our way!"
"Boss, does that count Green Arrow or…" One of the other thugs was interrupted midsentence as one of the patrons bull rushed him and sucker punched him, the patron went for a follow up attack but instead got an assault rifle butt to the nose breaking it in the process.
"What did I just say about playing the hero?!" The leader demanded not realizing that Adriana had entered the bank behind their backs. "Deal with that idiot! Make an example of him!"
"Please, I have a wife and kids." The patron pleaded as the gang member pointed his gun at him ready to open fire. "You don't have to do this!"
"You should've thought about that before you tried to play the hero!" The gang member scoffed as he got ready to fire. "Too late now!"
"Well, if he can't play the hero, can I?" Adriana's voice rang out and the thug looked up just in time to be blasted by a beam of white light knocking him out, the remaining thugs looked up just in time to see Adriana floating down to the ground in her Lo Divino costume. "Because I'm a lot better than him at it!" Adriana added as she cracked her knuckles cockily.
"Lo Divino?! I thought she disappeared?!" The leader demanded before he pointed his gun at Adriana. "Let's make sure she never returns boys! Open fire!" The leader ordered and Adriana quickly generated a light forcefield around herself and the injured patron causing the bullets to bounce off harmlessly.
"Sir, are you okay?" Adriana whispered as she glanced over her shoulder at the injured patron who nodded.
"Just a broken nose, I've suffered a lot worse." The patron whispered back with a grateful nod and Adriana grinned under her mask. "What happened to you over the past few days anyway?"
"Long story, point is I'm back now and waiting for them to use up all their ammo." Adriana responded as she maintained the shield for a while longer. "Why did you try to play the hero anyway?"
"I'm an active duty marine on shore leave, I figured I could take them." The patron explained and Adriana winced as she started to regret her choice of words. "Don't sweat the comment about being a better hero than me, end of the day? We both serve the cause of justice, don't we?"
"Yeah, I guess." Adriana nodded before she heard the tell-tale sound of ammo running out and grinned. "This will likely be the last time we'll talk so, thank you for your service."
"If anything, I should be thanking you, you and the rest of the Justice League do just as much to maintain the peace as I do, and you should definitely keep it up." The patron nodded gratefully as Adriana sprang into action.
"And as soon as I'm off suspension I'll get right on that." Adriana thought before she knocked out the leader of the gang with a punch, the thug closest to him charged at Adriana for a punch but got sent flying with a judo throw knocking him out as well. "Wait, there were six robbers weren't there? What happened to the other three?"
"Looking for someone?" One of the remaining thugs asked as he and the other thugs held knives to the throats of three bank tellers. "Don't move a muscle or we'll repaint the walls with their blood!"
"Put the knives down." Adriana called out to them as she glared at them. "Are you really willing to graduate from bank robbery to murder?"
"Your one to talk, we all saw that news footage." One of the other thugs pointed out and Adriana was thankful for her mask because they would've saw the grimace on her face. "Now we're getting out of here!"
"Yeah, I'm going to have to object to that." Claudia's voice rang out and the first thug that spoke up looked up just in term to get a dark energy blast from Claudia knocking him out, the other remaining thugs let their hostages go and span around giving Adriana her chance. "You know it's rude to turn your back on a lady, right?"
"What lady…..." The second thug's sentence got cut off as Adriana kicked him from behind knocking him out, the remaining thug looked between the two twin sisters and tried to flee only to get blasted from behind by Adriana.
"¡Gracias por el respaldo, Claudia!" Adriana thanked her sister in Spanish once she was sure that the hostages weren't paying attention. "¡Los matones que tomaron rehenes realmente arruinaron mis planes!"
"No te preocupes hermana, te iba a dejar así antes de que se llevaran a los rehenes de todos modos." Claudia nodded as she motioned to the unconscious thugs. "¿Continuamos esta conversación en otro lugar? ¿En inglés?"
"Si, suena bien." Adriana nodded in agreement before the twins left the bank.
*a few minutes later*
Adriana and Claudia eventually stopped to chat on a roof and Adriana had taken the time to tell her sister about her exchange with the patron.
"Saying that you're a better hero than a marine after just saving him?" Claudia chuckled as she walked up to her younger sister who groaned. "And here I thought your cockiness couldn't get any higher."
"Hey, in my defence, he wasn't in uniform and I didn't realize that he was an active duty marine until he said so." Adriana defended herself as she put her hands up. "Besides, he was cool about it, saying that we were basically on the same side, didn't really have the heart to tell him that the reason I disappeared for a few days was because my actions against Raymundo got me suspended."
"Yeah, I guess that's fair." Claudia nodded in understanding before sitting down next to her sister. "Look, I know I said it when I got back from shift that day but I'm sorry that comments hurt you that badly, but it still needed to be said."
"It's fine sis, I had more than enough time to mull over it." Adriana responded as she put her hands up defensively. "Obviously, I haven't been keeping tack of it since my suspension but have there been any jump overs since I was last on the Watchtower?"
"You realize that that was last week, right?" Claudia pointed out and Adriana nodded before Claudia thought for a minute. "Off the top of my head? The first day of your suspension was quiet, and I'm not saying that because you weren't there, I spent most of it on Monitor Duty but aside from the occasional League Assignment not much really happened." Claudia shrugged as she shifted her weight. "Really, things only picked up yesterday when Marco and Ehsan's families were found but today's my day off, so I don't know if there were any other jump overs."
"That's good to know at least, I know they've been stressed out about them not being found." Adriana nodded with a grin on her face before stretching a bit. "As for me, I'm just trying to get back in the swing of things before I return from suspension, that busted up bank robbery was just my way of announcing to the world that I was back."
"And you still needed me to pick up the pieces." Claudia responded earning an annoyed look from her sister. "Seriously, what would you have done if those robbers had escaped with the hostages? I was already on my way to break it up myself when I heard the news that you had beaten me too it."
"To be fair, I was eating lunch in the café right across from it, had to duck into the lady's room to get changed before I could intervene." Adriana admitted before sighing. "And then I saw how crowded the lady's room was and basically acted like I had the worst case of diarrhea ever, once the coast was clear I escaped out the window and headed straight to the bank." Adriana admitted before noticing the amused look on Claudia's face. "Hey, to be fair, it was a hell of a lot more convincing than the lies I've been telling you and the League as of late!"
"Setting aside how low that bar is, props for thinking on your feet like that." Claudia complimented her sister with a laugh and Adriana just rolled her eyes. "So, assuming you were in that stall for a while, no one thought to check on you?"
"Just one old lady, guess my acting's improved since I played the tree in school plays." Adriana joked getting another laugh out of her sister. "I'm still not sure how I managed to make the sounds I did but I basically played it up as well I could, to the point were she ran out to call a fucking ambulance on me, fortunately that was the distraction I needed to sneak out but that old lady will have some explaining to do."
"Just be sure to apologize to her if you do see her again, I'm pretty sure that counts as wasting emergency services' time." Claudia sighed and Adriana quickly nodded in agreement. "I think that's one of the few times where your play acting has been too good."
"Tell me about it! Not like it was my idea to call the ambulance anyway." Adriana nodded in agreement before putting her mask on. "I know you said today's your day off but I'm guessing you're out on patrol?"
"I was going down to the game store to check out some new releases when I got the news actually, we can only play GTA V and God of War so many times before it gets old." Claudia pointed out and Adriana nodded in agreement. "Hopefully, it's still open, if not, I can always go on Amazon, you?"
"Like I said, I need to get back into the swing of things." Adriana responded as she stretched her arms a bit. "I'll probably be on patrol for a while longer, guess I'll see you back at the apartment?"
"Sure, I was hoping we'd get a chance to cook together anyway." Claudia nodded before she stood up. "Saying that, I need to get back to my apartment to get changed, my day clothes got soaked on the way over."
"Do I even want to know how, considering how land locked Star City is?" Adriana asked and Claudia shook her head.
"Long story short, I tripped over a rock and fell into a lake." Claudia admitted and her sister, predictably, nearly fell over laughing at the mental image. "Wasn't one of my proudest moments, if it was a cartoon, I would've emerged with completely soaked hair spitting water out like a water fountain."
"There's just one thing missing that's preventing that mental image from being perfect." Adriana responded with a grin as she stood up and Claudia raised an eyebrow. "A duck sitting atop your head as you emerged from the water."
"You're right, that does make that mental image perfect." Claudia shared a laugh with her sister before smiling warmly. "Seriously Addy, after the way you've been acting lately, it's great to say you getting back to your old self."
"Yeah well, maybe those four days off were enough to relieve the stress I was putting myself under." Adriana admitted with a shrug as she folded her arms. "Maybe I should take most of the week off more often."
"Considering that some members of the public and Justice League thought you had taken the suspension so hard that you had quit, maybe not." Claudia pointed out and Adriana nodded in agreement. "Still, if you do get that stressed again, you know you can talk to me, right?"
"Yeah, sure." Adriana nodded with a grin before Claudia put her mask on and flew off, once she was alone however Adriana let out a deep breath before removing her mask and looking at her reflection in the roof's window. "If only that was so simple, but the more time I spend with Rachel, the worst my anxiety gets about coming out as gay." Adriana thought with a sigh before running a hand through her hair. "Talk about a classic monkey's paw scenario! I finally meet the love of my life, get laid and meet her amazing friends but I can't tell anyone because I'm worried about how they'll take the news." Adriana thought before putting her mask back on. "I can only hope that when I do come out of the closet people will still accept me for who I am, not for who I share a bed with." Adriana thought before she flew off.
However, she wasn't as alone as Adriana initially thought, as Claudia had hung back to spy on her sister, and she wasn't liking what she saw one bit. "There are times I wish that I got the ability to read minds when me and Addy's powers awoke, this is one of them." Claudia thought with a sad sigh before she flew off. "Something's definitely troubling Adriana and she's using her sense of humour to mask it, is it drugs? Is it her first boyfriend? Is it her first girlfriend? I honestly don't know."
"So, I see Adriana's back in the saddle." Green Arrow's voice rang out through Claudia's earpiece and she put a hand to it. "At least physically, mentally? I'm not so sure."
"Yeah, and I hate the fact that I can't tell what's going through her head." Claudia sighed as she glanced over at her sister. "Do you want me to follow her from a distance?"
"No, that might clue her into the fact that Superman's so concerned for her that he's asked us to spy on her." Green Arrow sighed as he shook his head. "And you came dangerously close to that when you helped her deal with those bank robbers, still can't believe she fell for the falling into the lake story."
"I guess we both need lessons on telling convincing lies, at least she seems to be getting back to her old self." Claudia nodded as she watched her sister fly off. "Still feels hypocritical as all hell."
"Yeah, but to be fair our lies aren't on the same level as hers." Green Arrow responded as he shook his head. "Besides, her behaviour has concerned the League enough that we've been asked to keep an eye on her, Black Canary would be joining us if she wasn't on monitor duty today and you've strongly objected to The Question's ideas."
"Ideas that involve hacking into her personal devices, namely her laptop and phone." Claudia pointed out as her frown deepened. "I'm concerned about how bad her anxiety is getting and how badly she's hiding not only that but the cause of her anxiety from us as much as you are Arrow, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I resort to breaching my sister's privacy to get to the bottom of it! Hell, the first time she shut down was because a school bully broke into her room, stole her diary and read it's contents at show and tell."
"Okay, to be fair, that brat deserved whatever punishment he had coming to him!" Green Arrow's clearly enraged voice rang out and Claudia nodded. "Seriously, that's wrong on so many levels."
"Especially when taken in context, Addy had been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder not long after we moved to the US, her shrink suggested that she keep a diary of her thoughts to better understand what was going on in her head." Claudia sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "And it was the same diary that was read out by the bully, and yet for some reason I was the only one punished in that incident!"
"It's not exactly often that I suddenly get the desire to punch a high school freshman, I might make an exception in that case." Green Arrow nodded with a grunt and Adriana nodded.
"If it makes you feel any better, he was a senor aged student that was held back a couple of years because of his low grades, once our parents found out what had happened we were pulled out of that school in record time but all I'm saying is that it was worth it to be suspended for a week because I punched him hard enough to break his nose." Claudia sighed in response as she ran a hand through her hair. "Then again, the fact that I interrupted his show and tell to do it probably didn't help but the teacher should've intervened after it became clear that it was Addy's diary, not after Addy ran out of the classroom in tears!" Claudia defended herself before frowning. "Looking back on it, I think that was when I started being so overprotective of her, Adriana's older now granted but I doubt her anxiety will go away any time soon."
"Those kinds of mental issues never do, at least once this is over, she'll have the best support network she could ask for." Green Arrow responded as he shook his head. "And if she's turned to drugs as a coping mechanism, then it'd be even more tragic."
"Speaking as her sister, I have to agree." Claudia nodded with a sigh. "She's always used her cockiness as a mask for her anxiety issues, but she can't keep this stuff bottled up!"
"I'm not arguing with that, I only hope that we can break through her defences before it gets too strong." Green Arrow nodded before Claudia flew off.
*later*
Adriana had been flying around the city for the better half of an hour by the this point but things seemed to have quietened down since the bank robbery was broken up, so she used the opportunity to call Rachel.
"Hey, I said I was sorry for sending that nude at the worst time." Rachel commented and Adriana grinned in response. "At least the older heroes didn't see it."
"They didn't see it, but they probably suspected something was up considering how quickly I hid the phone from them." Adriana admitted with a shrug as she made herself comfy. "Never thought I'd be complaining about receiving a picture of my naked girlfriend in some kind of sexual position but here I am."
"I was sitting on Taylor's face whilst Mandy ate her out/fingered her if your wondering." Rachel chuckled and Adriana shook her head. "Brittany and Alex probably used the same position on you."
"Not answering that, because I'm out on patrol and in public." Adriana responded as she shook her head. "Still can't believe they talked me into being the bottom of that position during my second time having sex, it was worth it though." Adriana thought before shaking her head. "To be honest, if nothing exciting happens on my end soon I may just come over for a few hours, still haven't had a chance to cook for you."
"You'll get a chance, if not today then I'm sure we'll set something up for this weekend." Rachel assured her before she heard something on her TV. "Probably this weekend, news report says that there's several Supervillains trying to rob a jewelry store."
"Now we're talking." Adriana responded with a grin before she sprung to her feet. "Any idea where? Or what Supervillains for that matter?"
"Looks like it's on the east-side, I know that area well, that's near where I got my piercing and tattoo work done." Rachel nodded as she recognized the area. "No clue on the Supervillains aside from Ultra-Huminite and he's pretty hard to miss."
"Hard to miss, not hard to defeat." Adriana responded before she took flight. "How big is the place in question? I doubt several Supervillains would be needed to turn over a small jewelry place."
"It's one of the largest in the city, and most expensive, it's also one of those shops that's a lot bigger than it looks on the outside, I'll send you a pic of the storefront." Rachel responded with a nod and seconds later Adriana got the text.
"Yeah, I know the place, shouldn't be that hard to find them." Adriana thought before she flew eastward. "I'll call you after I'm done kicking ass and taking names."
"Look forward to it." Rachel nodded before hanging up and Adriana pocketed her phone before speeding off.
*later, on the east side*
Adriana didn't take long to find the store, the fact that the alarms were blaring from inside the store was a huge clue and Adriana landed on the pavement outside to get a better look whilst hugging the wall.
"Okay, I see KGBeast, Ultra-Huminite, Cheetah, Shade and Killer Frost, none of those guys are what I'd call heavy hitters but then again they are still dangerous." Adriana thought as she scouted the villains inside the shop. "Even if I could contact the league, I should be able to knock them out quickly enough! KGBeast is closest to the door so I'll target him first." Adriana thought before she entered the shop.
"Hurry comrades! We must leave before the Justice League arrives…" KGBeast never finished his sentence as Adriana blasted him in the back with an energy blast sending the Russian supervillain stumbling forward.
"Sorry guys, the League is busy right now." Adriana commented as she leaned against the top port of the wall nearest the shop's entrance whilst looking at her fingernails playfully. "But I'll happily kick your asses all over Star City instead!"
"Give it up Lo Divino!" Cheetah growled as she got ready to pounce on the teenage Superhero. "It's six on one, you can't beat us all."
"Did you flunk out at math or something?" Adriana asked before she kicked off the wall and landed in front of the assembled villains. "Because I only see five Supervillains in front of me."
"That's right." Ultra-Humanite smirked as he pointed his gun at her. "In front of you."
"What are you…..." Adriana never finished her sentence as she was hit by a bolt of electricity from the side, Adriana screamed out in pain for a good ten seconds before the new villain let up and let her drop to her hands and knees, at which point Adriana finally got a good look at the villain. "Oh fuck."
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Lo Divino." Electro teased her as she walked up to the hero. "Back from the dead after four days, don't worry, we'll put you back in the grave soon enough!" Electro added and Adriana started to realize how screwed she was as the six villains surrounded her, something that was further driven home as KGBeast started to attack her leg.
*meanwhile*
Claudia was on her way home after losing sight of Adriana before a news report caught her attention, she stopped in front of the TV store to get a better look.
"A late update on the robbery at Maximilian's Jewellery Store, the teenage Superhero known as Lo Divino has entered the store which is currently being robbed by Ultra Humanite, KGBeast, Cheetah, Shade and Killer Frost alongside a sixth, unknown Supervillain with electricity powers….." Claudia didn't even wait for the rest of the news report to finish instead immediately taking flight and flying in the direction of the store.
"Arrow, please tell me your watching the Mid-Afternoon News?" Claudia asked as she put a hand to her earpiece whilst flying as fast as she could.
"Yeah, I was all set to sit down and put my feet up when I saw that Adriana was trying to put her Battle Royal experience to practical use." Green Arrow nodded on the other end as he raced out of his home. "I thought it was standard procedure to tell a suspended League member that they shouldn't be afraid to ask for help?"
"It is." J'onn chimed in over the earpieces and the other two heroes nodded. "Black Canary practically bolted for the teleporters as soon as she saw the news and Earthshaker and Booster Gold are on their way down as well, how fast can you get to the East Side."
"I was on my way back to the apartment I share with Addy when I saw the news, that's close to the city center so not that far." Claudia responded as she picked up the pace. "You don't think she's trying to prove that she can do this on her own, right?"
"If it was just KGBeast or Shade then yeah, she could handle it alone." Green Arrow responded as he hopped on the motorbike. "Any idea as to who this walking power outage might be Claudia?"
"There is a couple of names that come to mind, but the only one who would be robbing places like this is Electro, one of Spider-Man's oldest enemies." Claudia explained as she flew through the city. "Well, okay the first Electro was one of his oldest enemies, but he died, and a crazy fangirl took over the identity and powers."
"It's a sad state of affairs when SUPERVILLAINS are getting fangirls, honestly!" Green Arrow grunted in response as he sped through the streets. "J'onn, have you tried Adriana's earpiece?"
"She was told to give it back when she was put on suspension, even if she did have it might have been irreparably damaged in the first attack by this Electro." J'onn nodded as the heroes sped towards the scene. "I will send backup as needed but I must stress that you must get there before Adriana is killed."
*fifteen minutes later, back at the store*
Following Electro's attack the villains hadn't let up the assault on Adriana thus not even giving her a chance to fight back aside from the occasional energy blast, by this point Adriana was looking really beat up as KGBeast lay in the punches, and that was after Killer Frost used Adriana's head to smash open several display cases.
"Oh, what's the matter princess?" Killer Frost asked mockingly as she let Adriana get up using a case to support herself. "Where's your buddies in the League? There not here to save you?" Killer Frost added as she got ready to use her ice powers to finish Adriana off. "Any last words before I put you on ice?"
"Go to hell." Adriana spat at Killer Frost before sending her flying across the store with a punch, however it wasn't enough to knock out Killer Frost as Adriana struggled to stand. "The league won't stand for this." Adriana grunted in pain as she felt her sides, without another word she ripped her mask off revealing her bruised, bloody and cut up face and threw it to the floor. "Even if you kill me, they'll come down on all of you for this."
"Perhaps." Cheetah taunted her as she got ready to attack Adriana again. "But once we're done with you, there won't be enough of you to fit in a matchbox, hope you've said goodbye to your loved ones, little girl."
"If we are to kill her, do so quickly." Ultra-Humanite responded with a frown on her face. "No need to prolong this poor girl's suffering."
"Then allow me." KGBeast responded before he pointed his machine gun hand at Adriana. "After all, she attacked me from behind first."
"Sorry to have to repeat how "polite" my friend is then." Ehsan's voice rang out and KGBeast looked up just in time to get a rock fist to the face knocking him clean out, the rest of the villains looked up to see Adriana's back-up in full, Earthshaker, Green Arrow, Black Canary, El Sombre and Booster Gold (and Skeets). "And as another friend would say, there are easier ways to make money, and they are usually a lot less painful!"
"So, this is the Justice League?" Electro scoffed as she got her powers ready. "I'm not impressed, especially after the big boss man hyped you up to be the best thing since sliced bread, speaking of slices, I think you'd better check on the idiot over there." Electro added as she motioned to Adriana who was obviously in a lot of pain as she struggled to stand. "We cut her pretty little face up really good when we used it to break open the cases."
"And that's enough talking out of you!" Claudia snapped as she flew right at Electro and started brawling with the Supervillain, Shade tried to jump in but got a Boxing Glove Arrow to the face for his troubles knocking him clean out before Green Arrow rushed over rushed over to Adriana's side.
"Kid, I'm not about to ask if your all right because it's clear to me that you're not." Green Arrow said as Adriana glanced up at him whilst the other heroes battled away. "I'll just ask you one thing, where does it hurt?"
"That's a rhetorical question, right?" Adriana grunted in pain as she slumped against the display case. "It's easier to list the areas where pain isn't coming from!"
"Yeah, just as I thought." Green Arrow nodded before putting a hand to his earpiece. "J'onn, Lo Divino needs urgent medical attention, beam her up and have the medics ready to rush her to the infirmary."
"Already done." J'onn nodded before Green Arrow turned his attention to Adriana only to realise that she had passed out from the pain.
"Here kid, your going to need this." Green Arrow commented with a sad sigh before putting Adriana's mask back on her head, seconds later Adriana's unconscious body was teleported up to the Watchtower and Green Arrow turned to Killer Frost. "You could've left any time you wanted." Green Arrow added as he glared at the female Supervillain. "All you had to do was incapacitate her and make off with the loot, instead you chose to stick around and torture her, why?"
"You really think we care about turning over this dump?" Killer Frost scoffed as she got her powers ready. "We were told to stage the robbery and make an example out of whoever was dumb enough to try to stop it, not our fault that idiot thought she could take us all on solo."
"You don't even care about the fact that she's only eighteen?!" Green Arrow demanded as his eyes narrowed. "I'm going to enjoy sending you dirtbags to jail!" Green Arrow added before charging at Killer Frost with his bow drawn.
*the next day*
When Adriana came too, it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the new light in front of her eyes, once they had adjusted, she quickly realized where she was and went to sit up.
"Hey, hey, take it easy." Claudia's voice rang out as she put a hand on her twin sister's shoulder. "You've got more injuries than I care to count Addy and I don't want to see you make them any worse."
"Claudia?" Adriana groaned as she eased herself back into the infirmary bed. "How long was I out?" Adriana asked as she glanced over at her clearly concerned older sister.
"You entered the store at around four o'clock yesterday, it's now six o'clock in the evening the next day." Claudia added and Adriana nodded. "What do you remember from that ambush?"
"I remember being fried by Electro and then set upon by the other villains." Adriana admitted as she winced in pain. "I think it started to set in that it was a trap when they started using my head to smash open display cases and didn't even take the contents, please tell me you defeated them."
"Yeah, they are all on their way to jail but we kept Ultra-Humanite for questioning, he may be a villain, but this was the first time he's ever participated in something like this." Claudia nodded as she took a deep breath. "I made sure Electro got the tar beaten out of her personally, do you even want to know the extent of your damage?"
"Well, I've got a pounding headache for one thing." Adriana responded as she felt her head. "So, could you just stick to my worse injuries? I get the feeling we'll be here all day otherwise?"
"Yeah, sure." Claudia nodded before checking the notes. "You've got a grade two concussion for starters, I'm not going to pretend that you don't know where that came from, broken ribs, second degree burns from Electro's attacks, you were lucky we arrived when we did because they were ready to kill you."
"And if we were old enough to buy alcohol, I'd be tempted to buy all of you a drink once I'm discharged." Adriana groaned as she shifted her weight. "I'm guessing my phones fried as well?"
"Totally, we couldn't even salvage the SIM card." Claudia responded as she shook her head and Adriana nodded. "Luckily, Green Arrow was able to get a new one for you, it's a good thing we share a lot of the same contacts because I used that to fill out your contacts."
"I still have Rachel's phone number, don't I?" Adriana thought as she glanced over at the brand new phone by her bedside, however she struggled to remember it and looked up at the ceiling. "We exchanged e-mails when I stopped by her place the other day, my head might still be a mess but I do remember adding it to my e-mail contacts before we had sex, I'll have to e-mail her once I get some time alone." Adriana thought before sighing. "I'm on the Watchtower, aren't I?"
"Green Arrow made a judgement call when he saw the extent of your injuries." Claudia nodded as she looked over her injured sister. "The fact that you were struggling to stand was what concerned him most, he was worried that an ambulance wouldn't get to the store in time and the paramedics would be held up by the Supervillains being escorted away so he had J'onn teleport you up and J'onn had a medical team rush you in here, your in good hands but it'll be a week before you have a working wi-fi connection."
"That may as well be an eternity." Adriana groaned before she eased herself up. "So much for me getting back in the swing of things, I was so fucking injured that I couldn't even knock out Killer Frost with a punch!"
"You couldn't put your strength behind it?" Claudia asked with a concerned look on her face and Adriana shook her head.
"I could put enough strength behind the punch to send her flying across the store, but that was all I could muster." Adriana sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "You said that I'll be up here for a week, right?"
"Right, and even after that week's up you'll have to take it easy for a few days whilst your injuries heal." Claudia nodded before taking a deep breath. "And here's the part your going to hate, I'm going to have to baby you whilst your injuries mend up, in and out of costume, and you can think again about sneaking out at night, sorry Addy, doctor's orders."
"Considering I could've died back there I'll take what I can get." Adriana sighed as she shifted her weight, it was at that moment that realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. "You got a call from mom and dad, didn't you?"
"Almost as quickly as the fact that you were hospitalized hit the airwaves." Claudia nodded as she took a deep breath. "If mom wasn't worried about the Raymundo incident, then she was now, I honestly thought she was going to have a heart attack based on the way she was speaking," Claudia added, and Adriana lowered her head in response. "We'll try to get something set up so you can video call them during your stay here but mom wants you to know that they are proud of you for trying to fight that many Supervillains on your own, which brings me to my next point, why didn't you call for backup?"
"I don't know, pride maybe?" Adriana shrugged her shoulders as she leaned back in her hospital bed. "Hell, I wasn't even sure if I could call the League because of my suspension."
"It's standard procedure to tell a suspended league member that they shouldn't be afraid to call for help if needed, even if you couldn't get through to J'onn, you had my number, they wouldn't have been able to pull the same trick with both of us in the store." Claudia added before the door to the infirmary opened and the twins looked up to see Green Arrow walking up.
"Good to see you awake Adriana, you had us worried there." Green Arrow nodded once he saw that the Mexican teen was awake. "This may seem like a stupid question but how are you feeling?"
"Like I got ran over by a parade of tanks, elephants and other heavy shit." Adriana groaned as she eased herself up. "Claudia filled me in on most of the details, namely my worst injuries, how long I'll be staying here and what the plan is for when I get discharged, not to mention the fact that my parents know that I got the crap beat out of me."
"Well, that spares me the trouble of filling you in at least." Green Arrow nodded before he made himself comfy next to her. "But I do have some good news and bad news for you, as soon as you're healed you'll be off suspension, whilst the details are far from ideal, the truth is your actions led to several dangerous supervillains being put behind bars, but next time, call the league first, those bastards were ready to kill you."
"Yeah, I noticed." Adriana nodded with a groan. "So, what's the bad news?"
"Look, before I say this, I just want to point out that this wasn't my idea, it comes from the top I'm afraid." Green Arrow explained and Adriana braced herself. "Your behaviour as of late was concerning the League enough for me, Claudia and Black Canary to be asked to keep an eye on you once you felt comfortable enough to go out as Lo Divino again…..."
"In other words, spying on me." Adriana interrupted him with a frown on her face. "And you got on my case for lying?" Adriana asked as she glanced over at her twin sister.
"It wasn't my idea, but my hand was forced." Claudia admitted with a sigh. "Especially knowing your anxiety issues, after you took care of that bank robbery and seemed back to normal, I thought we could leave it even after I noticed that you seemed troubled by something."
"Yeah, the potential consequences of coming out of the closet." Adriana thought before turning her attention back to Green Arrow. "You were saying?"
"Well, thanks to that ambush the League is starting to worry about how it affected your mental health." Green Arrow nodded and Adriana braced herself. "As soon as your able to walk unaided, your going to have to start having sessions with J'onn, that was the only condition for lifting the suspension early."
"Great, that's just what I…." Adriana trailed off before turning to Green Arrow. "Walk unaided? But my legs feel fine, well, relatively fine but still."
"That'd be the painkillers doing their work, trust me, the injuries you sustained in that so-called "battle" left you in a lot of pain and it's not going to go away completely after a day." Green Arrow explained before checking the doctor's notes. "During the fight, your legs sustained the least amount of damage but I saw for myself how you were using that glass case to keep your balance, it'll be a few days at least before you can even think about walking again and the doctors have already advised against trying to fly, your body's sensitive enough as it is."
"And barring League assignments, I'll be here every step of the way." Claudia assured her with a nod. "Any other questions you can think off?"
"Just one." Adriana responded after thinking for a bit. "I never saw any staff in there, any idea what happened to them?"
"We found them in the back, they had been shot, execution style by KGBeast." Claudia responded as she shook her head angrily. "So much senseless death, for what? Beating the crap out of an eighteen year old girl?! What the hell was the point of all that?!"
"If I knew I'd tell you." Green Arrow sighed as he leaned back. "Earthshaker and Green Lantern are handling Ultra-Humanite's interrogation as we speak, hopefully they'll find the answers we need."
*meanwhile*
In another part of the Watchtower Ultra Humanite was being interrogated by Earthshaker and Green Lantern and neither League member was happy about it.
"You know Ultra-Humanite,, there's one thing I don't get." Earthshaker stated as the Syrian hero walked up to the villain. "Historically, you've been against civilian casualties, yet you had no issue with KGBeast executing the staff of Maximilian's, to say nothing of what you put Lo Divino through."
"That was not my idea, but they insisted, saying that they couldn't leave witnesses." Ultra-Humanite responded with a nod as he looked at Earthshaker. "As for Lo Divino, I was merely following orders, I took no pleasure in what your friend endured."
"You could've stopped it at any time." John Stewart chimed in as he walked up to the Supervillain. "Instead you watched an eighteen year old girl get tortured by being forced into a battle she couldn't hope to win, doesn't that make you sick?" Green Lantern asked and the Supervillain frowned.
"Sick isn't the word, I was disgusted." Ultra-Humanite admitted as his eyes narrowed. "I tried to insist that we put Lo Divino out of her misery sooner, but that idea was only acted upon when Killer Frost went to kill her."
"You know what Lantern? I think we're wasting our time here." Earthshaker commented with a yawn and John turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Why don't we get Lo Divino's older sister El Sombre in here instead? Knowing how protective she is of her younger sister, I bet El Sombre would jump at the chance to give him a piece of her mind."
"Your right, I have it on good authority that she's been itching for five minutes alone with just one of the Supervillains who ambushed her sister." John nodded once he got the idea before he went to the door. "Last chance Ultra-Humanite, either you tell us who you, Killer Frost, Shade, Electro and KGBeast got your orders from or El Sombre beats the information out of you." John added before he went to leave the room.
"Wait!" Ultra-Humanite called out to the two men and they stopped. "I'll talk! I don't owe those thugs much loyalty anyway, the Legion of Doom has been revived by…." Ultra-Humanite never finished his sentence as he started screaming in pain before slumping on the table motionless.
"What the hell?!" Earthshaker demanded before running up to Humanite's prone form and checking for a pulse. "He's alive but barely, it's like something just fried his brain."
"That hasn't happened since…..." John trailed off as he started to connect the dots. "Ehsan, go check on Adriana, I bet she'll be glad to see a friendly face."
"But what about him?" Ehsan asked as he motioned to Ultra-Humanite. "He said something about a Legion of Doom and somehow, I doubt he means the wrestling tag team from the 80s."
"J'onn will try to probe his mind to see if there is any useful information." John nodded as he turned to the younger hero. "But if the Legion is back, I need to call an emergency meeting with the founding members."
"It really is bad, isn't it?" Ehsan sighed as it dawned on him. "What exactly are we dealing with?"
"Something big." John nodded as he went to leave the room. "And I have a hunch that the portal generator that started this whole adventure is tied to it." John added before he left the room.