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Eddie Bloomberg stared with fascination at his team supervisor as the elder man beamed at the dusty red brick he had plopped upon the table thirty minutes ago and been staring at ever since. Occasionally, he would give a laugh or seemingly whisper to the old brick and if it weren't for the entirely innocuous expression upon the shifter's face, Eddie probably would have been more concerned. Instead, he was merely mesmerized, not even looking up to catch the rather alluring sight of a still damp-from-her-shower Rose entering the room. She moved purposefully towards her bowl and box of oatmeal, standing next to him, but paused when she heard Garfield snicker. Turning slowly, she narrowed her gaze upon the chortling man and whispered to Eddie, "What the Hell is going on?"
"That's a dollar for the swear jar. And I don't have a single clue. He came in early this morning with that brick and he's just been . . . chatting with it," he answered, chin in hand and yellow eyes focused on the peculiar interaction.
"Just so we're clear, I'm never paying a dollar to that jar," she jabbed a finger towards the large glass jar before noting that there was a significant amount of cash in it. She turned back to Eddie with a frown, "Who put all that money in there?"
"Gar said that he's covered for the next year."
Abruptly glancing up at the sound of his name and seeming to notice his company for the first time, he glanced between them before taking note of the light coming in through the window. Jumping from his seat, he tucked the brick under his arm and called back to them as he headed towards the door, "Make sure that you aren't late to training. And don't forget to bring your team spirit."
They watched him leave and Rose waited a moment longer after the door had closed before noting through pursed lips, "He still has that brick."
"Do you think we should be concerned about it?"
She gave a slow shake of her head and answered, "I honestly have no idea. Any idea where he found it? I haven't seen a single brick in this place's construction."
"Hey, maybe it's something from that weird room he was in yesterday," Eddie pointed out.
"Right, from the Painting That Ate Paris. Maybe it's the Brick That Sank Atlantis," she scoffed.
"Hot damn. What if it is?" he smiled excitedly.
Rose had begun to make her breakfast shortly after Gar's exit, but paused to arch her operable eyebrow at him. "You realize that's completely insane, right? And also a dollar for the swear jar."
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Dan – Blue Devil was fused with a suit he made for a movie by a demon who thought he was a fellow demon. I've seen too many strange things to discount something like that."
"So you believe him now?"
"I'm just saying, I don't want to dismiss the idea. Not entirely."
She gave another scoff as she stirred the bowl of oatmeal, steam coiling from the simple meal as her spoon clinked against the bowl. The sound reminded him that he had yet to make his own breakfast and, with a glance at the clock, he realized that he didn't have the time for his usual fare. Glancing through the still rather sparse pantries, Gar rarely contributed anything that wasn't in the sugar food group and Eddie wasn't even sure what Blackfire ate, he grabbed a banana and quickly peeled it open. His body's heat was already turning it soft and he didn't even need to chew the quick meal. With a nod to Rose, he wiped his hands on his jeans and headed back to his own room. The previously impersonal room was wallpapered with posters of films of various different genres, but all worked on by one Marlene Bloomberg. There was a time when any movie featuring Daniel Cassidy also lined his wall, but he had removed all of those in his possession several months ago. Tossing his civies into the corner, the light leather armor appeared on his form in a sudden burst of fire that did not so much as singe the carpet. Bathing in the eldritch fire had troubled him from the start, but he could not deny the usefulness of the quick change that had resulted in him reducing several outfits to ash.
He was surprised to find that Blackfire had arrived before him, reclining against the wall as she studied the suited-up Changeling, who still seemed to be conversing with the brick, with narrowed eyes. Upon his entry, she glanced up and jabbed a finger towards the shape shifter, "Do you have any idea what that is about?"
"Not a clue. He's had it since this morning," he answered.
Frowning at the madly grinning shape shifter, she made a sound of consideration and crossed her arms over her chest. Eddie fought the urge to ogle her voluptuous frame, the slender abdomen that flared into broad hips and her impressive bosom. Since their first meeting, he had admitted to himself that she was remarkably beautiful but also utterly terrifying with her ominous armor and violent temperament. He was fairly certain that Changeling had some sort of death wish with the way he ceaselessly teased and harassed her. Taking a steadying breath and deliberately turning his eyes away from the luscious woman, he strode towards the shape shifter who still seemed to be chatting with the brick, but looked up with a smile as Eddie approached.
"What's up, Kid?"
"Hey, I was kind of wondering, what's with the brick?"
"Oh, well-"
"All right, let's get this over with," Ravager called as she entered the room, sliding her katanas from their scabbards and spinning the weapons in a deadly arc.
"Of course, my one-eyed optimist. I'd hate to keep you from your undoubtedly busy social schedule," Changeling rolled his eyes with a slight grin. As the other three moved to the center of the room, he jogged to the side to set down his brick before aligning himself so that the other three were between him and the crowd.
"So, I'll admit that you three have shown definite improvement since we started. I'd be worried if you hadn't. However, as we saw yesterday, we could use at least a teensy bit of improvement. Teensy being a relative term in comparison to a blue whale. That's why today we're working on functioning as a team."
"How are we going to do that?" Kid Devil asked.
Changeling grinned broadly, "Tag. Well, reverse tag. Whoever's 'It' has to avoid getting taken down by everybody else. Whoever manages to take It down, becomes the new It and the game goes on."
"What's It?" Blackfire interjected.
"The freakiest clown this side of a mime. But that's neither here nor there-"
"Mimes aren't clowns," Kid Devil argued with Changeling.
"No. They're worse. Nothing good is ever that quiet," he declared fervently, brooking no room for argument. The others arched their eyebrows at him until he broke back into a smile, "Anyway, my interstellar goddess, the concept of tag is that one person is It and he tries to touch the other players to make them It so that he's no longer It. Except we're doing it in reverse."
"We're playing games?" Ravager scowled. "Are you serious?"
"Never, she-with-hair-of-the-silvery-moon. However, I am It."
Without any further warning, he vaulted over them and streaked towards the door, pausing just long enough to grab his brick, whirl about, and laugh at them before ducking out the door. Recovering from his shock, Kid Devil raced after him, leaving the two girls staring after them with annoyance. Ravager swung her glance towards Blackfire and queried, "Do you ever get the feeling that we're not much more than glorified babysitters?"
"Since I set foot here, girl," she smirked, earning a glare from Ravager that probably would have been accompanied by harsh words were it not for the sudden yell from the hallway. Before the shout had even ended, the silverette was already to the door while the alien floated after her leisurely. Racing to the origin, Ravager found Kid Devil on the ground, wiping at his eyes in frustration as his tail lashed back and forth wildly.
"What happened?" she demanded, scanning the area for any threats. She saw that his face was coated in a thick, black fluid that he was attempting to wipe away with little success. At her question, he gestured without much clarity to the area in front and above of him as he snarled.
"He was lurking in the shadows as something and dropped down as a squid. And he . . . well, there's no way to say it that doesn't sound disgusting."
"Heh. Children," Blackfire scoffed as she shot over their heads, zooming down the hallway. Ravager growled in her throat before jumping to her feet, pulling Kid Devil by the wrist who yelped as he continued to wipe at the oil covering his eyes.
"C'mon. We aren't losing to that bitch," she declared through grit teeth.
"Swear jar," he noted automatically. "But aren't we supposed to be working together?"
"We are. Against that undeservedly arrogant, dumb b-"
"Ah.
"I was gonna say broad."
"Right. Hey, I can see again!"
"Great. Now put those eyes to use and find that gremlin."
"Please. Gizmo and his duplicates got nothing on this."
Ravager was aware of a sudden weight upon her head and found herself staring into a pair of large eyes that held a familiar mirth. Scowling at the aye-aye who grinned all the wider at her discontent, she made a calculated swipe over her head though the peculiar creature leapt away, evading the strike. Landing upon the ground, it stretched into the shape of a wolf that grinned at them and gave a growling sort of chuckle before racing down the hallway. Swords at her side, she charged after him with Kid Devil following her before he darted down a side hallway. Catching a flash of the future, she smirked before leaping into the air and pushing off from a wall, propelling herself in front of the wolf just before he could dart down the hallway. Performing an abrupt about face, the canine found himself facing the horned boy who unleashed a gout of flame to block off another pathway. Turning again, Ravager was surprised to see the wolf grin before he offered a suggestion.
"You're a member short of a win."
Springing into the air, the wolf dwindled down into a hummingbird that zipped past Ravager with little effort before dropping back down to the ground as a cheetah that tore away from them, cackling inanely. As he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, there was a shout followed by the shriek of star bolts cutting through the air. However, the attack was followed by a roar of frustration that definitely originated from the Tamaranean and brought a smile to Ravager's face as she and Kid Devil raced down the hall. They found an irate Blackfire, orbs of energy glowing around her fists and Ravager couldn't resist a short laugh at her expense.
"Swing and a miss, crone."
Blackfire snarled at her in response before shooting down the hall, presumably after the already disappeared Changeling. Kid Devil groaned, "We're supposed to be working together. That's the whole point of this exercise."
"We're supposed to catch him. She'd only get in the way."
He hesitated as she dashed down the hallway before growling frustration and dropping his arms against his legs. After another moment, he ran after her and soon joined her outside the compact base where she stood, scouring the sky with one sword sheathed. Stepping to her side, he followed her gaze, but couldn't find anything to even hint at the location of their opponent. Suddenly, she yanked a knife from the scabbard at her hip and sent it spiraling into the air, the handle striking the falcon that suddenly burst from one of the foliage and knocking the bird from his path. Squawking in annoyance, he fluttered about in an attempt to regain his footing but morphed into a stegosaurus as the pair charged him. Before either could reach him, a dark streak slammed into the side of the dinosaur, shoving him into and splintering several trees. Reacting quickly to the assault from the Tamaranean, Changeling melted into the form of a snake and slithered away. Blackfire grabbed for him only for Ravager to swing her sword in front of her outstretched fingers.
"He's mine."
"Ssssssooo posssssessssive, bright eye. Ssssssorry, but I think I need my ssspacccccce, sssssweet sssilver," the mamba hissed as he darted away.
"Eddie, grab him!" Ravager barked as she faced off against the seething Blackfire.
"Touch him, and I will show you just how hot a star really is," she snapped, halting Kid Devil's progress as Changeling suddenly turned human and scowled at his comrades.
"All right. That's it. We're gonna restart the game. I'm still It. However, you three are gonna work together. If you fail to work together as a group, each of you is going to spend a month doing my laundry. Is that clear?"
"You're joking, right?" demanded the one-eyed girl, her swords at her sides.
"If you think I'm about to touch that waste you call clothing, Gar, you are sadly mistaken," Blackfire added defiantly.
"No, I'm not. Joking or making a mistake. Well, not at this exact moment. Anyway, I've been given charge of this team and you will follow the rules that I set down. Look, I hate getting serious. It ages me terribly and the reality is that humor can be found in just about anything. Anyway, I'm saying this right now. If any of you have a problem with my leadership, this is your chance to walk away. Just know that if you quit this team, there's no promise you'll be able to get on another one," he declared resolutely, his gaze uncharacteristically harsh as he stared down the three though he focused mostly on the girls. After a moment of silence during which none of them could meet his hard stare, he gave content nod and dropped his crossed arms from his chest. His face broke out into a broad grin and he clapped his hands together before pointing to the crest of the ridge.
"Good. I'm gonna to be up there. You guys have five minutes to plan. Then, the game resumes."
Taking the shape of a pterodactyl, he lifted into the air and took a perch upon the jagged rocks, watching the trio intently. They stood about each other awkwardly, Kid Devil's gaze flickering between the two women who seemed to determined not to meet each other's' gazes. Finally, Ravager reluctantly, as though it hurt her to do so, turned to face Blackfire who looked up at the movement. Whispering in hopes that it would ruin any attempts of Changeling to listen in, she said, "Look, I honestly think that you're a bitch with a major attitude problem, but I don't want to even know what color of underwear the green bean wears, much less touch it. You with me on this?"
She nodded, "We do share common ground in that regards."
Kid Devil breathed out a sigh before giving a smile, "Glad we're all finally on the same page. But, um, either of you got a plan to actually take Changeling out?"
Ravager gave a feral sort of grin, "Yeah. So listen good."
In the spirit of fairness, Changeling had not even attempted to listen in on the schemes and was preening himself when he realized that the team had dispersed. He stretched his wings before morphing into an ankylosaurus and shifted about, steadying his position as he slowly scanned the area around him. They were hiding amongst the foliage and while his current form's senses were not acute enough to pinpoint their positions, he was not about to give up the defense afforded by the primordial tank. Then a volley of dark energy blasts suddenly blasted from one of the trees and he instinctively ducked his head down. The bolts never struck him, instead smashing into the ground in front of him, the attack creating a thick cloud of dust and rubble particulate. Readying his tail for anybody that was about to burst through the cover, he noted a shadow to his side and angled his head to see a familiar curvaceous frame rising into the air. As he focused upon her, he missed the chance to defend himself when Kid Devil leapt through the dust to deliver a staggering wallop to the dinosaur, dazing Changeling as another blow landed. Staggering back, he was thrown completely off balance when a starbolt demolished his footing and the inferno that roared from Kid Devil's mouth forced him back.
Tumbling down the backside of the ridge, he returned to his human shape in an attempt to catch himself but without success. As he finally rolled to a stop, he quickly tried to push himself to his feet only to feel cold steel pressed against his throat. Looking up, he found a smirking Ravager standing over him.
"I think that's tag," she commented smoothly.
To her surprise, Changeling almost literally glowed with joy as he nodded, "Yep. You guys got me. But I'd start running. Because now you're It."
Yay, teamwork! So a new character was introduced in this chapter. First person to figure out who gets to request a character appearance though the character has to be from the DC universe. We hope you all enjoyed this chapter though the team seems to be backtracking with the return to training. Don't worry. They'll be back to business soon enough.
Also, to Blu: We actually noted the lack of a techie when we made the team, and we promise that that will be rectified. We have plans.