Eric watched in shocked horror as Icewolf hit the road hard and didn't get back up. The white wolf lay motionless, only the slight movement of his chest showing he was still alive. Eric quickly shifted his gaze to the villain that stood laughing across the street. Icewolf had only briefly told Eric about Wildside so there wasn't much for him to go on. He knew Wildside was a human that could turn into any animal he touched by absorbing the DNA. He also knew that Wildside could mix and match animals to create his own strange hybrids. Like the rhino with a scorpion tail and huge crab pincers that he faced.
"Come get some, pup. If you think you're wolf enough," Wildside taunted.
Eric shot one more quick glance at his fallen comrade then focused his full attention on the villain. Wildside snapped his pincers in Eric's direction. Eric replied by flipping the beast off. Wildside let out a deep bellow and charged, which is exactly what Eric was going for. Eric sidestepped and wrapped his hands around the massive rhino horn and fell onto his back. His weight combined with the villain's momentum flipped the hybrid beast into the air. However, Wildside managed to get his pincers around Eric and fling him in the opposite direction.
Eric slammed into the side of a car with enough force to dent the metal. He got up as quickly as he could and reacted instinctively to the sight of something flying at his face. He dove to the side and looked back to see the scorpion stinger dig into the pavement. He quickly twisted and grabbed the tail and used it to swing Wildside through the wall of a building.
Eric then turned to the bystanders who had stopped to watch and opened his mouth to warn them away, but a roar from inside the building cut him off. A orange and black blur pounced out of the hole in the wall and slammed Eric to the ground. Eric managed to get one foot in Wildside's stomach and kicked him off, but not before the scorpion stinger plunged into his thigh. That tore a howl of pain from deep inside, but didn't stop Eric from getting to his feet as quickly as possible. He faced off with Wildside once more.
Wildside had changed forms again. He still had the scorpion tail, but the rest of his body was that of a tiger. The tiger growled deeply and without thinking Eric answered, tensing his muscle in preparation. Wildside pounced with claws outstretched and teeth bared. Eric made a quick move to the side, but his injured leg failed him and he collapsed on his side. Wildside landed as smoothly as any real tiger and pounced again. Eric managed to catch both front paws, but the back claws dug into his thighs and held tight.
"I'm gonna tear you apart, fleabag," Wildside taunted.
Eric panicked and in his panic he did the only thing he could think of doing. He howled. He howled like he never had before, with all his emotion and power behind it. The resulting sonic shock wave sent Wildside flying through the air. The villain slammed through another wall and the front of the building collapsed as the supporting beams shattered. Eric stared in horror. Oh he was going to be in big trouble for that.
Getting to his feet was a little more difficult with both his legs badly wounded. His hybrid wolf form had accelerated healing, but not that quickly. Serious wounds like his would require changing back to his human form, but that wasn't an option with Wildside still a threat. Instead he slowly limped forward to see if Wildside was actually down for the count.
Just as he stepped through the hole Wildside pounced. The villain had taken on the form of a kangaroo and with one powerful kick sent Eric sailing back through the air. Eric hit the road and tumbled several times before coming to a stop beside Icewolf's unconscious body. He managed to get to his knees and look up, watching as Wildside shifted form to that of a huge eagle. The villain flapped into the air and over to Eric. Eric had no chance against the talons that sank into his shoulders and lifted him up.
"Icewolf should have trained his sidekick a little better," Wildside sneered as he made a quick ascent into the dark night sky.
"Not his sidekick," Eric shot back.
Wildside laughed, his voice floating through the air. "Oh? And you suppose you're his new partner? Please, you're no hero."
They were high up in the sky by then and Eric knew things were about to go from bad to worse.
"At any rate, your death will be a big blow to Icewolf. My only regret is that he's not conscious to see this."
And then Wildside released him.
Eric had never been so scared in his life. He was too scared to even scream. The air seemed to rush out of his lungs as he plummeted straight for the ground. There was nothing he could do to save himself.
Inches from the ground he stopped. Everything stopped.
"Computer, end simulation."
Eric's wounds were suddenly gone and his feet were on solid ground. He took a moment to get his breath back. Even though he knew it was only a simulation, falling through the sky was still terrifying.
"Twelve people."
Eric spun to face Icewolf. "What?"
"You killed twelve people with your stupid stunt," Icewolf said. "All you had to do was subdue him. Not have smackdown with him."
"He wasn't exactly going quietly, Wolf," Eric retorted. "What the hell else was I supposed to do? Let him kill me?"
"You threw him through a building," Icewolf growled. "We try to avoid that kind of thing at all costs. Especially an apartment building."
"I didn't really have time to think things through," Eric said in his defense. "All I could do was react."
"You should have led him away from the populated area," Icewolf shot back. "There was no way to avoid civilian casualties there."
Eric's temper flared and he stepped toward Icewolf, whole body tense. "You set that up. You set it up so I would fail."
"Why the hell would I do that?"
"Because you just love to see me fail, don't you?"
"No, that's your place," Icewolf retorted furiously. "But at least I'm not shoving it in your damn face."
"Because you know you set me up to fail!"
"I don't need to set you up for that!"
"You're just jealous because you're not half the CSI I am!"
"How would you know? You don't give me the time of day!"
"Because you're nothing but a wannabe CSI who took advantage of my best friends death to get on the team! You'll never be anything more than a replacement!"
The air in the room suddenly dropped so low Eric could see his own breath. He shivered subconsciously and watched the ice wielder before him warily.
"You act like you're the only one who has ever lost anyone," Icewolf growled, low and dangerous. "Well, guess what? The only reason you're in the position to be my sidekick is because I lost two of my best friends! And you'll never be anything more than a sidekick because you don't have what it takes!"
"I'm not a sidekick!"
"That's right, you're not a sidekick. You're a joke!"
Fury flared, gripping Eric hard and without thinking he pounced. Not anticipating the attack, Icewolf didn't get a hand up to block the punch to his jaw. Eric watched as Icewolf stumbled and followed with a kick to the knee. That Icewolf caught. The white wolf let out a deep, thrumming growl and held Eric's leg as he stepped inward and landed a devastating punch to the jaw. Eric tipped backwards but was flung roughly to the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of him.
Icewolf loomed over him, green eyes blazing. "And for the record, if you EVER bring up our real work again where someone else could overhear it I'll make sure you really regret it."
Oh no, Eric was NOT letting Icewolf get the last word in. As Icewolf turned to leave the simulation room Eric lunged to his feet and then at the white wolf's back. Icewolf turned and Eric caught the ice wielder with an uppercut and followed it with a stiff kick to the ribs. The kick knocked Icewolf onto his back and Eric fell on him with a flurry of punches to the white wolf's face and chest. Icewolf seemed too stunned to hit back. The wolf just threw his arms up and tried to block Eric's punches to the face.
Suddenly an arm locked around his neck and Eric was jerked back with amazing force. He was hauled up off the ground and then slammed chest first to the floor with a heavy weight on his back. Before he could do anything he found himself in a full nelson with both arms restricted and two hands cranking his head into the floor.
"I should snap your damn neck," Hawk snarled furiously.
"Take it easy, Hawk," Dove said from somewhere nearby.
Eric listened to the sound of Icewolf being helped up and winced as Hawk cranked on his neck. He could smell anger and frustration on Icewolf's scent. He heard the white wolf open his mouth, there was a distinct sound of lips pulling back from teeth anytime Icewolf talked, but then there was a click of teeth. Apparently, Icewolf decided against speaking. Instead the ice wielder let out a growl and stormed away. Hawk cranked on Eric's neck even harder.
"What happened?" Dove demanded.
"He provoked me," Eric said.
"You accused him of setting up the simulation so that you would fail," Hawk shot back. "We were watching in the control room."
"You have to understand, Stormwolf, that failure for us means either our death or the death of innocent people," Dove explained, sounding calmer than before. "He would never set you up for that."
"It's insulting to him that you would even suggest it," Hawk added. He didn't sound any calmer. "And if you ever attack him like that again I'll break every bone in your body and stick you in an airlock somewhere."
Eric believed it. Hawk then reluctantly let go of him, at the encouragement of Dove, and Eric carefully got up. His ribs hurt from Hawk's body slam. The simulation room floor wasn't padded in the slightest.
"Why don't you go back to the commissary? We'll find you when it's time for you to leave," Dove suggested.
"And you better be ready to apologize."
With that Hawk and Dove left the room. Eric assumed they were going after Icewolf. That left him alone. To find the commissary. By himself. He was so going to get lost.
And not ten minutes later he was undeniably lost. He knew that at one point they took a lift and that there were many twists and turns. He stopped and turned in place a few times trying to see anything familiar. Nothing.
"You look lost, kid."
Eric spun at the voice. And couldn't keep his eyes from widening in surprise. Then couldn't keep the look of awe from his face. A dark skinned man wearing a mostly black costume with green shoulders and boots stood there. The unmistakable green emblem on a field of white. He couldn't believe who it was. Couldn't believe that he was meeting another of the original seven so soon.
It was Green Lantern.
Eric couldn't believe his luck.
"Where are you trying to get to?" Green Lantern asked.
"The commissary," Eric said, managing to keep the awe out of his voice. He wasn't sure he was ever going to get used to being around the big name guys.
Green Lantern laughed. "You're way, way off course."
"Yeah, well this whole place kinda looks the same. There's nothing distinguishing about any of these halls and no helpful maps," Eric retorted.
"Tell me about it," the hero grumbled. "The first time I came up here I got turned around and they had to send Flash to find me. Talk about embarrassing."
Eric didn't know what the appropriate response to that was and he was too proud to actually ask Green Lantern to give him directions. Fortunately for him the dark skinned hero motioned for him to follow and then turned and started down the hall.
"So, you're Icewolf's new partner," the other man broke the silence that had been growing.
"I'm Stormwolf sir, but I believe he likes to refer to me as his trainee."
Green Lantern snorted, "Trainee, riiiiight."
Eric wanted to ask why everyone seemed to have the same response to Icewolf claiming him as a trainee and not partner. He didn't ask though. He just followed Green Lantern to a lift and as soon as the doors slid open Icewolf stepped out.
"Hey GL," Icewolf greeted.
"Icewolf," Green Lantern returned calmly. "You should keep a better eye on you trainee. I found him wandering aimlessly."
Icewolf shot Eric an absolutely frigid look. "Yeah, well, he won't be here often enough to need to memorize the layout." He then shifted his attention fully to Green Lantern. "No one will tell me what's happened tonight. I know there are injuries, but I can't get any details."
"Just your average possessed metahuman," Green Lantern said dryly. "No one was seriously hurt, but it was quite a fight. Flash nearly took on the whole League."
"Flash was possessed?"
"Yeah, haven't figured out by what exactly, but when Doctor Light hit him with a blast of light whatever it was left him," Green Lantern explained. "Like I said, some broken bones and bruised pride, but nothing serious."
"Now why couldn't anyone just tell me that?" Icewolf growled in annoyance.
Green Lantern shot the white wolf a look. "Maybe the attitude you've been throwing around for the past month has something to do with it."
Icewolf grumbled, but made no intelligible reply. Eric looked curiously at the white wolf, but he was ignored with a feeling of coldness that almost made him shiver. Something felt different. Usually after one of their arguments Icewolf was snappy and overly insulting, but there was none of that.
Maybe he had let his pride get in the way just a little too much. Maybe he took it too far.