I hope you like this chapter. I'm getting worse and worse at naming the chapters, but I hope the writing is at least decent. Please review and let me know.
When Mallory woke up, the first thing her mind registered was a constant, steady beeping. The pain was gone, a cool relief replacing it. She cracked an eye open, then bolted upright. She was in a hospital.
The emotionless white walls called back childhood memories of doctors studying her, at first trying to figure out what was wrong with her, and then just observing her unusual medical problems like she was some sort of test subject or guinea pig.
She blinked the memories aside and looked herself over. She was fine. She had a few scratches from the fall, but they had barely broken skin and would heal soon enough.
"How are you?" A familiar voice asked, and she turned to see Superman in the doorway.
"Fine. The pain wore off," she told him. She saw her costume folded neatly on a chair and realized that the hospital gown she wore was normal, ordinary cloth. Ordinarily she might have been afraid of catching it on fire in her sleep, but she was too exhausted to care, and she would probably have trouble making fire with a conscious effort, much less with an unconscious thought.
"The team told us what happened. Why did you push yourself so hard?" Superman asked, walking over to stand by the bed.
"They needed a distraction. It took more out of me than I'd figured, that's all. Hey, what time is it? " She asked.
"About 9:00, I guess," he told her, giving her a once-over to make sure she was all right.
"In the morning?!" she asked, bolting up. "I have to get home. Can you show me how to work that transporter thing?"
"Sure. It's called a zeta tube, by the way."
He left so she could change. Mallory put on her suit and her civies on top of it and hurried out the medbay. Superman was waiting for her in the hallway, and she followed him back to the big room. The team was there training in normal clothes.
"Hey, Inferno!" Kid Flash called. Mallory turned to see him on the side of the light ring on the floor. Aqualad and Robin were in the ring fighting skillfully. Mallory went over.
"Hey, you feeling alright?" he asked, his attention split between her and the fight.
"Yeah, I'm used to it. It just needed a few hours to wear off," she assured him.
"Are you coming back to train?" he asked. Mallory turned slightly to watch the fight. The moves were very advanced. She bit the inside of her cheek, suddenly embarrassed. She'd never learned how to fight. She'd taught herself a few things on the punching bag, but she'd always relied on her powers, never coming too close to the people she caught.
"I have to go," she said, as if that was an explanation. Kid flash shrugged. "Well, you should come back later." "Maybe," she said noncomittingly. "Well, when you come back, I'll spar with you. And Black Canary will be here around noon for training."
Mallory nodded and hurried around the group to Superman.
"Are you coming back for training?" he asked as he showed her how to punch in her coordinates.
"You know, eavesdropping isn't exactly something a role model should do," she said with a small smile. "But I don't know. You know I can't fight like that." He gave her an understanding look. "You don't have to be ashamed of it. Besides Robin and Artemis, none of them excelled in hand-to-hand combat when the team first started. Black Canary is a good teacher. You'll learn."
Mallory sighed and stood in front of the zeta tube.
"Recognized, Torch, b08."
"That's Inferno b08, update," Superman said, and she smiled.
"Yeah, I'll be here," she said, just before the light sucked her away.
"Mom? Dad?" Mallory called as she opened the door to her house. Elaine and Darren met her at the door, concern creasing their faces.
"Where have you been?" Elaine asked.
"At the cave. I passed out last night and they kept me for observation." She said, hoping her honesty would earn her some points.
"What happened?" Darrin asked.
"I pushed myself too far, that's all. I'm fine now, Dad."
They were trying to hide their worry, but Mallory could see it in the creases of their faces.
"Well, tell us about the team," Elaine said after a moment, her voice strained with false cheerfulness. Mallory and her parents went into the living room and she sat cross-legged on the couch.
"Well, there are six people on it besides me. Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis."
"Superboy?" Darrin said, surprised. Mallory sighed.
"I don't know what the story is with him. Superman doesn't act like he's in league with him, but Superboy Acts like he should be. Anyway, the mission went well, and I'm supposed to be back at the cave by noon for combat training."
Her parents exchange a glance.
"What?" Mallory asked.
"Well, it just seems like this team is going to take up more of your time than you thought. What about school?" Elaine asked.
Mallory shrugged. "Summer's coming up soon. I'll figure it out. They all have." She checked the time on her phone. "I have to go grab a shower before I go back." She dashed upstairs and started the water. While she waited for the water to warm up, her phone chimed. She looked and saw a text from Jen. She opened it.
Hey, how was the flight?-Jen
Fine. I slept the whole way-Mal
How was ur parents anniversary?-Jen
It's tomorrow. How r u?-Mal
Ok, wish you were here. I can't wait for your vacation to end-Jen
Mallory bit her lip. She hadn't told Jen that her move might be permanent. As far as her friend knew, she was just visiting her parents for 2 weeks. She set the phone on her bedside table and went to take her shower. The water was steaming hot, and she let it rinse the soot off her skin and hair.
She pushed Jen out of her mind. She needed to focus on training. She would go back to school for a week or two at the end of her visit, and she could work things out with her friend then.
She dried off and got dressed quickly, then hurried downstairs.
"I've got to go," she told her Mom, then dashed out the door and straight to the zeta tube/telephone booth. The light scanned her, and the voice announced, "Recognized, Inferno, B08."
She felt herself being sucked in, then a moment later she appeared in the cave. The light circle was on the floor, and Black Canary stood in the center of it, ringed by the team.
"Inferno, glad you can make it," Canary said, her voice surprisingly soothing. Mallory joined the circle of teens.
"Let's start with Robin and W-" Black Canary's eyes darted to Inferno and she quickly corrected herself, "Kid flash. Now, I want you to try maneuver 3."
The boys walked to the center of the ring with confidence. They struck fighting positions, and Kid Flash threw the first punch. Robin easily dodged it and kicked, hitting his friend in the shoulder as the redhead tried to dodge. They were grinning as they circled each other. Mallory watched in all as the expertly fought, every now and then landing a punch or a kick, but mostly dodging each other.
Suddenly Robin crouched and swung his leg in a half circle, knocking Kid Flash off his feet. The redhead fell onto his back hard. A pop up on the holographic training floor announced in red type "Kid Flash status: fail."
Robin helped his friend up with a triumphant grin. Black Canary joined them on the floor.
"Very good. Now, tell me what you did wrong."
Kid Flash sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish smile on his face. "I forgot to jump," he said. "Good," Black Canary replied, and the boys walked off the floor.
"Now, who's next?" the trainer asked. She surveyed the line of teens carefully. "Inferno, how about you?"
Mallory's heart kept to her throat. There was no way she could follow that fight.
Her hesitance must have been apparent, because Black Canary said, "I know you haven't had training in hand-to-hand combat. That's what this is for, for everyone to get better. Your team needs to know your skills so they can depend on you in battle."
Mallory felt her face heat up, but she walked to the center of the arena. The hero looked at the team. "Who wants to spar with her? " she asked. Artemis took a step, but Superboy stopped her by saying, "I will."
The team collectively looked up, shocked, and Black Canary's confident air faltered a little. "Maybe - " she started, but he had already walked onto the arena.
"Recognized, Superman, 01,"the computer announced. The man appeared and Black Canary looked nervously between the teens on the arena floor and the man of steel.
"Did you need something?" she asked.
"It can wait until your session is over," he replied. She nodded, her face hardening a little.
"All right, now Superboy, go slow at first, remember, she's just learning."
Superboy held up his fists and Mallory copied his form. He threw a punch that she barely dodged. She wasn't balanced right when she popped back up, which he quickly took advantage of by sweeping her feet out from under her. She landed hard on her back, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the red text announcing her status update.
Her anger started to rise. She felt adrenaline pump through her as she got to her feet. She held up her hands. Superfly threw a punch that she blocked, the force of his fist surely leaving a bruise. She threw a bunch of her own, then spin kicked at him. The kick caught him off guard and she managed to get him on the jaw.
His eyes narrowed dangerously she eyed him warily, her own anger keeping the adrenaline pumping. He threw two consecutive punches. She blocked one, but the second caught her cheek and sent her stumbling back. The pain exploded across her face, but she was used to managing pain. She narrowed her eyes, blocking out everything except her opponent.
She took the offensive role this time, clumsley landing a few blows and dodging some of his. He knocked her down once again and she could feel her anger simmering just below the surface. She had a little difficulty getting up, but she still put her hands up, ready to go another round, her fury the only thing keeping her going.
Had she not been focusing so much on Superboy, she might have seen Superman shaking his head urgently in reaction to her glowing red eyes. Superboy lunged at her, she jumped to the side. He was angry too. He steadied himself. The fight was a grudge match. Mallory didn't fully understand what his reasons were, but she didn't need a reason to fight at the moment.
He faked left and punched her hard to the right. She started flying back, but caught herself with her flight. A burst of fire like she'd never known came out of her, flying in all directions. It felt so freeing. Superboy went flying across the room.
Mallory landed lightly back on the arena floor and looked around. She hadn't even really realized what she'd done.
Aqualad had put up a water shield to protect the team and the adult heroes. She turned to Superboy, fear filling every crevice of her being. His clothes were in tatters, the shoulder of his shirt was still burning, and the wall had a large dent in it, but his skin was untouched. His face showed several emotions: shock, anger, concern, confusion.
Mallory took a step back. Aqualad lowered the shield, but no one moved.
"Inferno-" but Black Canary couldn't finish. The team had a collective look of shock on their faces, and the underlying fear of those looks cut Mallory to her core. It felt like she'd been punched in the gut and left to try and regain her breath. It was like her parents' faces, back when she first discovered her powers. Like the other kids at the schools' faces when they saw her raw, uncontrollable power. Like the criminals' faces when she captured them. She took another step back.
"I -" she couldn't think of a single thing to say. She took a shaky breath. Artemis took a step towards her, but she stopped when she saw the wild terror in Inferno's eyes.
Mallory chanced a glance at Superman. His face held pity and concerned, but also something that could have been shock or fear. Mallory turned and hurried for the zeta tube.