A/N: Hey guys! Is everyone excited for YJ to start back up at the end of the month? Cuz I know I am :DDD Anyway, I kinda accidentally lied in the A/N at the end of the last chapter, cuz I said this was focused on Superboy and the laser girl. And it still kinda is, but this just turned out to be a better order to tell the story in.
But for those of you who are waiting for more clues about the laser girl so that you can guess, I dropped quite a few hints here, so read with a sharp eye ;) Good luck!
12:52 AM
"Kaldur, we've been walking for ages, and we haven't seen or heard a thing. Not even your basic crooks. Where the heck are we?"
"I am not sure," Aqualad admitted, studying the decrepit buildings as they made their way through the garbage filled alleys, "And you are right. We have not come across any crime or suspicious activity since we entered this area, and for Gotham, that is nearly impossible."
"Maybe this is like the 'ghost town' part of Gotham?" Raquel suggested, eyeing a crumbling wall suspiciously, "I mean, this place doesn't exactly look recently lived in."
Kaldur nodded in agreement. "But this could easily be where Batgirl is hiding, so it is worth looking around."
"Uggghhh, but it's sooo booorringgg," she groaned, "I want some action!"
"Yes, because it went over so well the last time we found 'some action'," Kaldur responded with dry sarcasm. He pushed an old dumpster out of their way and started to turn onto another street.
"Don't sass me, boy," Raquel warned him with a sharp look, "You don't wanna bring that up again. Besides, what are the chances that we'll actually run into Poison Ivy again tonight?"
The words had hardly left her mouth when suddenly Kaldur dove back around the corner, grabbing Raquel and pulling her away from the bend with such force that she fell back into him. She opened her mouth to protest, but Kaldur was already pulling her by the hand as he threw open the lid of the dumpster beside them and ushered her into it.
Raquel shot the container a disgusted look. "I am not going in th—"
"Not now." Kaldur hissed in warning, hurrying her into the shelter and quickly jumping in behind her.
The dumpster was on the small side, so with the layer of trash bags piled around them, there was hardly any space to move. Raquel's back was already pressed up against one side, and there was still less than a foot of space between her and Kaldur. As the lid slipped shut, the two heroes were plunged into darkness, but she could still feel the heat of Kaldur's breath brush past her chilled skin.
"Kaldur," Raquel finally said, confused by his sudden 'duck and cover' tactic, "Who are we hiding fr—mmmmpphh."
Her words were cut off by the Atlantian's hand forcibly closing her mouth. That was when Raquel began to worry; the gentle Kaldur doesn't forcibly do anything unless there's eminent danger. She shut herself up, but obviously he knew her better than to remove his hand just yet. But Raquel didn't need an answer to her unfinished question when her ears picked up on the sound of voices, and they seemed to be coming closer by the second.
"Selina, why did you call me out here? I was taking care of my side of things just fine," they heard a woman say as they voices came into earshot, "Don't tell me you messed up already?"
Anger began to build in Raquel's chest at the sound of the dangerous voice. Poison Ivy. Figures.
"Don't be ridiculous," came a second voice, "This gig is so easy, it's boring."
"Then why, may I ask, are you covered in white foam?"
They heard 'Selina' groan. "One of them is Sportsmaster's daughter," she grumbled, "I think it's become their family tradition to get on my very last nerve."
Raquel felt Kaldur's hand tense. They were obviously talking about Artemis, and potentially the rest of the Team.
"So, what? You messed up and lost them?"
"Of course not! Harles has the girls cornered about eight blocks from here, and I've got my babies surrounding the area just to make them feel uncomfortable whenever they consider making a run for it."
"Why would you bring them so close?" The two hidden heroes could practically hear the frown in Ivy's voice. "And I repeat, why am I here?"
"Don't go getting your green panties in a twist now, Ivy," the other voice quite literally hissed back, "I'm just following orders. Besides, all of these kids are newbies to their line of work, and the three of us have been dealing with their kind from the very beginning. How could they possibly outsmart us, especially since they can't even use their abilities?"
Raquel's jaw dropped, making Kaldur instinctively tighten his grip on her mouth to keep her from yelling out in shock or anger. And it's a good thing too, 'cause she probably would've. How did she find out? she thought, still shocked, Does this have something to do with Kaldur's powers working for that small amount of time? She heard the villains' footsteps slow to a stop just past their hiding place, and her body tensed up when she realized that they might have noticed them.
"You said that you had the girls cornered," they heard Ivy ask, "What about Big Blue Jr.?"
"Well, I was going to take care of him myself, but it seems we have an unexpected guest in Gotham tonight," Selina chuckled, starting to walk away again, "And instead of the normal colorful costume, she's sporting a strange combination of my leather suit and Canary's love of fishnets."
"Who is it?" Ivy asked, sounding less bored than usual, perhaps even curious.
The other woman must have mimed some obvious hint, because Ivy gave a small snort of amusement.
"Has she hit her rebellious phase or something?" she scoffed, and probably rolled her eyes as well.
"Well, she's never exactly followed her boss's orders before, so maybe this is just phase two of her rebellious phase?"
Their voices moved out of earshot, and after a few minutes of silence, Kaldur threw open the lid and climbed out. "That did not sound good," he stated the obvious with a grimace, offering Raquel his hand to help her out of the dumpster.
Accepting the webbed hand, she nimbly leapt out of the container. "How did they know!" she asked him, brushing the filth from her body, "How did they know about the inhibitor bands?"
Kaldur stared down the alleyway the women had just walked down, his brow furrowed in thought. "That is not the only interesting thing they said."
"You're right," Raquel agreed, though she wasn't exactly sure what he was thinking, "It sounded as if someone had sent them after us, whoever those other three are. Did you happen to see who the 'Selina' person was?"
"No, but I have a good guess," he said absentmindedly, still focused on something else, "We should go. They said that the others are nearby, and we cannot leave them in such a dangerous situation."
Raquel nodded, wondering what part of the women's conversation had her leader so deep in thought. "Lead the way."
1:09 AM
"Hey, quit running and let me kill you already!"
"Oh yeah, sure, that sounds like fun!" Superboy yelled back at his pursuer sarcastically. He was really getting sick of this now; the mouth on this girl could even give Wally a run for his money.
Leaping to the next rooftop, he scanned the area for a place to hide, but of course there was no such place. So he kept running, trying his best to ignore the threatening groan that resounded from the cracking concrete with each and every step. He was quickly losing whatever human strength he had to begin with after running from this maniac for over an hour. Every once in a while, he would lose her and have a moment to catch his breath, but it wasn't long before she found him once again and blew up whatever shelter he was hiding under.
His unusual lack of endurance was so distracting that he almost jumped right off the half collapsed roof and into the torn-up street below. He could've changed course and found a way to climb down the ruined part of the building, but his reactions were slowed from exhaustion. Turning back around, he saw the laser girl land gracefully on the rooftop and crank her goggles up to what sounded like high gear.
"End of the road!" she laughed maniacally, and blasted him square in the chest, sending him flying all the way across six streets before crashing somewhere beyond her field of vision. Or at least, beyond most people's field of vision.
A/N: That's all for now folks! Sorry it's a bit on the short side, but college just started, and I have been writing a lot for the future chapters, so hopefully those will come out faster :)
Also, hope you kept an eye out for the hints on laser girl's identity! I've also dropped some hints in previous chapters, so if you really feel like detectiving, go back through the fanfic :D Remember, I promise a one-shot to anyone who guesses right! And if you guess but change your mind later, I'll take your most recent guess :) Good luck!
And as always, don't forget to fave, follow, and review! Especially review :)