A/N: Okay, got a surge of hits and reviews; thanks so much for reading guys and review to keep me in check and give pointers! Always appreciated! Also, I am not a cheerleader so I apologize if the cheers are lame. (And if anyone can make a guess as to the ACTUAL mascot for Gothem Academy, let me know!)
September 12th, 10:32am
"At this time, teachers, students are to be dismissed to the gymnasium for the Fall Sports assembly. Again, all students are to be dismissed to the gymnasium for the Fall sports assembly." The voice of the school secretary rang out over the intercom.
Wally let out a whoop and dashed out of class. He loved assemblies. He loved seeing Cailan in total perfection out on the gym floor dancing and cheering. Not to mention it was a Friday, they'd get out of school early for the football game tonight, and tomorrow he'd be meeting Cailan for coffee and to go over her physics homework for the week.
"Wally," Conner said, grabbing him fast around the shoulders. "You sitting with the rest of us or gonna find some private place to ogle your girlfriend?"
"She's not my girlfriend!" the redhead protested bashfully, unable to stop a grin. "I'll catch ya guys there, I'm just gonna drop my stuff in my locker."
"Hey Wally," Megan said, walking over to his locker as the speedster wrestled away from Conner.
"Oh…hey Megan!" He smiled and kicked open his locker.
They chatted a little about school; how it was going so far for both of them, what the assembly was going to be like. All the while Wally felt right at home and comfortable with Megan; no nerves, no awkwardness to take into account. Nope, he and the alien were like two peas in a pod.
She asked him to hold her books while she swept her now-chestnut hair up into a pony tail. She still had green eyes, but they were murky when Megan looked like a human; she looked like she had spent just the right amount of time at the beach and Wally began hoping that she didn't look too perfect (she wasn't orange enough, he noted, to look fake-baked either).
The two met with the others; Megan went to sit by Conner but the two were so obviously awkward with each other that Megan turned her attention almost completely away from the blue-eyed teen and began gossiping with Artemis.
"So, what is this thing?" Conner demanded, his naturally surly disposition creeping into place as he glared at a freshman below him.
"Just an excuse to get out of class. They announce the sports heroes, talk about the normal back to school stuff and then the prissy little queen-bees prance around half naked to lame songs and everyone goes wild." Artemis said dismissively.
Ever the peace-keeper, Kaldur interjected a guileless question before Wally could rebuke. "Why do you seem so harsh on the life of normal teenagers Artemis?"
"…I'm not harsh. That's…just how it is." She shrugged and looked down below the plastic bleachers where they sat. It was starting, the announcers coming out and introducing themselves and rattling off horrible one-liners and jokes so old, they'd never been funny.
"Oh I'll bet your just jealous cause you couldn't go down there and do half as well," Wally rolled his eyes.
Sensing a fight brewing Dick asked Conner very loudly if he had managed to make the football team. This caught both Megan and Artemis' attention, successfully dissipating the situation. Conner's answer was an indifferent yeah. It'd taken some special hacking on Dick's part, but after the reasonable excuse of having missed tryouts on account of his 'transfer' and the remarkable fact that despite his broad shoulders and perfect football-physique Conner had never played the sport before he was allowed to try out. His superhuman strength let him easily lob the ball far enough for him to bump the star senior quarterback off his spot and his steel-like bones made it almost impossible for him to be tackled, unless he wanted to be.
"Just remember, you cannot be perfect in the game Conner. You must play as the others do, as well or as horribly, but not better." Kaldur said; he hated this fact. He couldn't join the swim team, because his webbed digits would be more than a reason for disqualification; he wouldn't even make the team.
Conner rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
…
There were three cheers that were performed through the duration of the assembly. 'Home'—choreographed by Cailan, 'L-u-l-u-luck'—by the school's cheer-adviser, and 'For the Team' which was a collaboration between Cailan and her protégée; the freshman who was looked on as being the captain's replacement after graduation the following May.
'Home' was the introduction—and by all means the team came out big. Taking a cue from an old Disney Channel Original Movie, the varsity cheer squad had revamped what looked like ancient outfits and un-dusted some retro pompoms. The idea had actually come from the freshman who was expected to take Calie's place, which had caused a little bit of a scandal, it seemed, among some of the student body. The outfits were tight, mid-thigh shorts, and tight, baby-t tops.
Originally in the schools' colors, the uniforms had been decked out with glitter and gauze, frills and eye catching tinsel. Matching to the theme the girls had their hair pulled back with tinsel ribbons. Squeaky clean white tennis-shoes marked a stark contrast to the many fake-baked legs and the yellow finish on the gym floor. The lights started dimming and flickering, music slowly started playing out of the speakers around the room.
"Here we go," Artemis sighed and rolled her eyes.
When the dimmed lights adjusted so that everyone could see again, the cheer-squad was in position, sneakered toes pointed, pompoms behind their backs, their smiling faces down. The music got louder and the intro to 'Home' by Daughtry floated through the audience's ears. After a few bars in, the audio switched with the transition of a record's audio tearing, and a different beat issued forth to the gym. A solid base pumped out a set time and rhythm for the girls. There was an overlay of a different song, blending what some of the older kids recognized as a club beat to a popular new hit from the radio.
In time with the beat the team's shoulders started bouncing and then at the first crescendo their heads snapped up to reveal their smiling faces. At that point the team broke from formation and launched into a quick series of acrobatics: four girls on the flanks did wicked jumps and mid-air splits, Two girls at the back did back bends into hand stands and walked back a short distance and the three at front, Calie, her co-captain, and the young freshman girl, catapulted into handsprings and round offs, finishing with the girl in the middle in the splits, the two on the sides landing on one foot, mirroring each other.
"READY?" The captains called together.
"OKAY!" the squad roared in unison.
A series of claps and hops and waves brought the girls closer to the starting formation and the cheers began.
"H-O M and E! On our turf we won't be beat! Go Knights!" The girls did side prances to the halfway mark on the court, hands on hips and fists raised into the air.
Here the girls divided; Calie headed one section, the co-captain took the other. The first group—Calie's—struck a sassy pose, their hands on their hips with their right foot in tiptoe and with the 'music' their heads snapped up on beat. On cue the girls leaned back, moving their arms in unison as Group one cheered: "Boomtown Boomtown WE got game—"
At this point Group two broke in, mirroring Group one with the same motions, chanting "Boomtown Boomtown WE'RE the best—"
Group one: "WE got skills that none can claim!"
Group two: "WE'LL smash you out like all the rest!"
Like military dogs they did a mid-air split and snapped back into place, pausing just before the next round.
"K-N-I now say it loud! K-N-I…G-H-T-S"
The student body roared out the letters.
"G.A. Knights we are the best! We win the games and get the girls, We break you down and rock your world! G.A Knights Go G.A Knights!"
The cheer ended with the traditional 'toss' where the three heads of the team were thrown into the air. The girls landed and struck a pose, right on time with the finishing crescendo of the music. Pearly white smiles shone out from the collection of teenage girls as they looked up, panting, into the crowd. Applause rang out through the gym—like a finely tuned instrument, right on time with the end of the performance—but it barely had time to begin before Cailan was darting back across the finely-polished hardwood floors and out into the hall. She did, after all, have a costume change.
…
"…so…" Conner's word hung out over the YJL like storm clouds. "What, exactly, is the point of all of this?"
"FINALLY!" Artemis threw her hands in the air with a smirk. "Someone gets it!" Her smiling eyes turned to Conner, who thought a moment and then smiled sheepishly back, avoiding looking to Megan.
"…it is…like a battle commencement—a way of rallying the troops?" Kaldur supplied, looking from Wally to Dick for an explanation.
The two younger guys looked at each other, confused, then back to the auditorium where they were announcing the hopes for this present year.
"Well…yeah. I mean, it's a pep rally. It's all about pumping people up with support of the school." Wally shrugged, looking to Dick to see if his explanation was satisfying enough.
…
Three and a half minutes later the dance team was about ready to come out with their routine. Wally was more than disappointed when the six got notifications at the same time that they had a mission. Reluctantly he snuck away silently with the others to a deserted stairwell—the only spot in the high school where the cameras didn't reach.
They were recognized in unison and dropped at the base for quick info before being shot straight out into the line of work. Almost my magic, Robin had more than conveniently hacked the school with permission and excuses.
…
"So not fair!" Kid Flash moaned as he flanked Kaldur on the motor-bike.
"Geez, obsess much?" Artemis thought, rolling her eyes as she and Megan sped across at a diagonal to cut the perpetrator off.
"You…like this girl Wal—I mean, Kid Flash?" Megan puzzled.
Conner gave a defeated sigh as he and Dick hit the building under attack from the north; he'd given up complaining openly about being linked to the others telepathically.
"Not the time!" Kaldur chastised the others as he led the turn onto the premises, coming to a sudden stop.
They were covert. The black-ops of the Justice League. They were like shadows—they went in, did their job, and left the criminals in a nice bundle for the police. Nothing more.
"Kid Flash, quick perimeter check, Ms. Martian, scan the building and tell us what we're dealing with. Artemis and Robin, cover Superboy and me." the leader commanded, darting to the building and turning to Conner for a boost up—quick and swift as a bird's fleeting shadow.
…
The mission ended, the sun setting—the young-justice team made their way wearily home. Wally and Dick split early in the jaunt, each heading in opposite directions to their respectful abodes. Artemis left not long after, muttering an Artemis-farewell and slipping away into the shadows. The remaining three didn't talk much.
With the telepathic line through Megan disconnected after each mission, Kaldur took a breath. He could think his own thoughts at this point. The eldest of the team, and their leader, he had quickly come to find his shoulders heavy.
Most importantly now was the drama unfolding in the layer under their very noses. Wally and Artemis could—given enough leeway and rope to hang themselves—tear the team apart with their bickering ways and demand for side-taking. But Kaldur also worried about Conner and Megan increasingly; the two were behaving very oddly of late.
He sighed and picked himself up for the moments needed to say 'good job' 'nice work out there' and 'goodnight' to his team when the need arose. After that—finally—he was alone with just himself and his thoughts. The water of the shower helped him think of these burdens. Never lightened in weight, he mulled them over nonetheless and sought a solution. A solution that, despite what he felt growing in his gut, would lead his friends safely away from whatever storm cloud was brewing around them.