Chapter 10: Sparing
Flashes of blue and red bounced off the walls as sirens filled the street. He sunk down the alleyway, away from the light and sound and amassing crowd. The police has the thieves in custody and were not about to ask questions to as how. The nighttime rain pounded down on him.
He followed long ago memorized steps to a basement apartment in one of the slums of the city. Packed in the small room was some of the most high tech equipment in the modern world. He needed it for security and maintenance. Sure, life wasn't like the glory and fame and supervillains in the old days, but even the people of the inner city needed a silent protector from the criminals that antagonized them.
Sure there had been other offers, other teams, but he had had enough of teams. He started out alone, he could finish alone. Cyborg listened as the rain pounded on the street outside.
…
"OW!"
"Are you okay?"
Alex waved his worried mother off as he pushed himself tenderly to his feet.
"So that's, um, 5-0 for Halle…maybe we should take a break," said Dick. Halle shrugged her shoulders and went to get a water bottle. Alex limped to the side of the room and sat on bench along the wall in the gym.
"Perhaps it was a little early to have them fight each other," Dick suggested in a whisper to his wife.
Kori nodded nervously, her hands clasped in front of her in a praying position. Having anyone attack one of her children, even if it was her other child, was too much for her nerves.
Dick walked over to Halle as Kori approached her son uneasily.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Alex bitterly.
"You know, if you want to stop now, just say something—"
"No!" Alex snapped. "I've got to beat Halle once…or at least get a hit on her…"
"Uh, Halle," said Dick, speaking to his daughter at the opposite side of the room.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think, maybe, you should ease off of your brother a bit?"
Halle rolled her eyes as she retied the laces of her sneakers. "If his guard is that bad, he deserves to be whomped."
"But," said Dick, "He's taken a pretty bad beating. It's a miracle he got up after the first hit. Maybe you shouldn't hit so hard."
"Look," said Halle, standing straight and clenching a fist. "My strength either comes in 'on' or 'off.' Theirs no degrees…And why shouldn't I do the best I can?"
"You should!" Dick defended, "But…with same move every time…that's a blow to his pride."
Halle smirked. "He should have learned to block it after five times…"
"Halle," Dick said sternly.
"Okay, okay," she conceded. "I'm not saying I'll let him win, but I'll give him a chance."
"Thank you."
"He's ready," called Kori from across the room. Both father and daughter turned to look. Kori was watching her son warily where he was standing in the center of the room, heavily favoring one leg, waiting for the next sparing match to begin.
Dick and Halle shared a glance before the teenage girl walked to her place. Dick stood back from the two, and putting a whistle in his mouth said, "Ready, set, tweet,"
Alex unconsciously flinched when the whistle blew. The last five times it meant he was quickly decimated by his sister's fist. She should name her fist, like in medieval times people named their swords like Excalibur or Sting or like, dragon-slayer. Expect her fist should be named Alex-decimator. However, Halle had yet to make a move.
Slowly, well, slower than before, she pulled back her right arm, the opposite than the one she had been favoring, and made a badly aimed, off-balanced punch towards Alex. He was able to dodge it so that it barely brushed by his sleeve. Halle resisted the urge to scoff; in her opinion, her brother should have been able to dodge it completely. Alex made and open-palmed attack, the heel of his hand hitting her shoulder. It made little impact.
Kori squealed and covered her eyes. Halle thought it was time to end it. She glanced at her father. She let her brother get contact, wasn't that enough? She made a swift move, dropping to a crouch on the floor, swinging her leg around and swiping Alex's legs out from under him. He landed soundly on his rump before Halle even had a stance to stand up properly.
Alex growled and Halle looked ready to gloat, her face shining. Kori was peaking through her fingers and Dick decided it was time to intercede. He took a place between the two. "Okay. I think that is enough for today. Good job."
"For some of us," Halle whispered smugly, loud enough for all to hear.
"For both of you," Dick said with a little glare. Halle seemed unaffected. "Come on now. You two clean up and then will have some dinner."
The parent left the gym, leaving the set of twins to their own devices as they collected their few possession, water bottles, warm-ups, and the such.
Halle snorted suddenly. Alex glared at the back of her head.
"What do you mean by that?" Alex demanded.
"Nothing, nothing," Halle said with the height of sarcasm in her tone, throwing her bag over her shoulder. "I was just thinking how embarrassing it must be for you to be beat up by your sister."
Alex sputtered. "You—you did not beat me up. You just knocked me over a few times is all. Plus! You have super strength. That's not fair!"
"You have flight and star bolts. How is it not fair?"
"Ah…well it's not!"
"Doesn't matter. I won according to the rules," said Halle smugly.
"Yeah, in a game where you knew I was coming and was prepared. A real enemy would take you by surprise."
"Your point, poindexter?"
"My point is that
the enemy taking you by surprise is going to be me. Every shadow on
the wall, the monsters under your bed, the wind running through the
trees, it might be me. You'll never be able to rest, to relax, to
put your guard down, knowing that I am watching you from the corner
of the room. I'll get you…"
"Where do you get this
stuff?"
"Watch out…"
…
Raven rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands wearily.
"Come on, Rae," said Gar, gently pulling his wife's hands away from her eyes. "You need to take a break."
"No, they're out there somewhere and we need to find them."
"I know," implored
Gar. "But you're no good half dead. When's the last time you
slept?"
"I'm not tired," Raven tried to argue, but she
was interrupted by a large yawn. Gar raised his eyebrows, his point
proven.
"Go take a nap. You didn't sleep all last night or today."
"But—"
"I'll look over it. We'll find them. We'll stop them. I promise."
Raven cocked her head a little bit, but said in submission. "You can't promise something like that."
"Yes," said Gar, taking his wife's hand and kissing her fingers. "I can."
They shared a silent moment. Green eyes meeting purple. Those were colors that were generally not associated with each other. Colors that weren't what the fashion world had in mind as the next big mix. Raven guessed her and Gar just defied conventions.
"Now get to bed, you," said Gar, with a teasing tone, pulling his wife up from her chair and giving her a gentle shove towards the bedroom. "Sometimes fresh eyes see stuff tired ones missed."
"We've been after them for months," said Raven from the doorway of their shared bedroom. "They've lead us on quite a chase around the world, but here we are, settled in Gotham for the longest time since we've been on the Strike's tail."
"Maybe they got tired of running," Gar tried to joke with a small smile.
His wife looked uneasy, her lips tightening into a worried frown. "Beast Boy and Raven in the same city as Robin and Starfire. It's too coincidental."
"Come on, Rae, you're sounding like Robin now. Don't get so worked up on it. I promised you we'd find them."
"I'm beginning to think we're only going to find them when they want us to."
…
He shifted in the shadows…watching…waiting. His prey would be coming soon. Oh, and how proud they'd all be at his victory for the cause. He reveled in the thought for a long moment. Finally some respect from the higher ups.
Footsteps broke the preparing attacker from his daydreams. He bounced silently on the balls of his feet in anticipation, flexing his fingers in readiness. The footsteps were growing closer. It was her. He had watched her too long not to recognize her padding feet on the ground.
A glimpse of red hair rounded the corner and he sprung with a wild yell, launching himself at his victim.
Halle screamed in surprise, jumped out of the war path, grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and threw her attacker onto the carpeted hallway floor.
He grunted, the wind being knocked out of his gut.
"Jeez, Alex," said Halle, clutching her heart. "What the hell?...oh, was this supposed to be your great revenge…hiding in the shadows and all that crap?"
Alex muttered incoherently into the carpet, too worn to even attempt lifting his head to speak.
"I'm going to bed, loser. I suggest you do the same. School tomorrow and all."
…
"Madam…the forces are ready. Tomorrow they attack."
"Good," cooed a voice from a woman sitting in a chair in the far reaches of the haunt.
"But," said an anxious, young recruit, once valued for his skill with twisting the minds of others, but not particularly valued for brute strength. "What about the other one. The metal one."
"She already explained to you," snapped another man standing up by the woman's throne. "Once his friends are out of the way, that loner will be easy target. He's long ago alienated himself from all forms of aid from other capes."
"But if we attacked all of them at once then—"
"We can't afford to split up our forces that much! These are superheroes we are dealing with!"
"But—"
"Silence!" the woman interrupted. "There is no time for petty arguments. The plan is in motion…tomorrow…we're going to strike.