After AJ had finished showing her around the Hub, Diana insisted she be the one to move the Camaro. No one was allowed to touch it. Sherman volunteered to show her where the shop was. Settling into the driver's seat, she followed his directions on where to go. She parked it out of the way, locked the doors and set the alarm, eying him as she did so.
"Sorry, but you guys are really freaking me out with your fixation on my car," she said to his offended expression.
"No hard feelings," he replied, though it was clear there were some.
She frowned. "Well, I guess it's pretty late, huh?" She wasn't feeling tired after everything that had transpired, but she wasn't sure what else there was to do. It was too late to test drive her car and they didn't seem to have much else going on either. She fiddled with the chain of her necklace as Sherman nodded.
"Yeah. Here, I'll show you to your room." He stepped into the elevator and she followed, keeping at arm's length. He eyed her attire of jeans and a hoodie. She must have wanted something a little more comfortable than the Shock Suit for the time being. "Do you have any spare clothes?"
"Not on me, but I can get some from back home tomorrow. I'll be fine in these for one night."
Sherman hummed and they walked to the bedrooms in silence. Gesturing at the door to hers, he said, "Here ya go. You should really try to get some rest while you can; we don't know when a Storm Shock will open."
"Gotcha." She feigned a yawn. "I'll see you in the morning, I guess. Night."
"Goodnight."
She walked inside and shut the door behind her. The room was barren, the only items a bed, wall mirror and dresser. A closet was in the far corner. Nothing personal so far. She was pleased to see the door locked itself. She didn't want anyone barging in on her right now; she had so much to think about. Alien worlds, advanced technology, portals to other dimensions and a war between good and evil? It all sounded like fiction to her. And here she thought he was crazy...
Diana sighed and fell onto the bed, the day catching up to her. She took off her shoes and hoodie, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. She had a feeling Sherman would be right and she'd really need the energy come morning. She curled up beneath the covers and tried to fend off the restlessness long enough to fall asleep. Her mind kept churning with theories and questions, and she dozed off in turmoil.
She awoke the next morning to silence; no one had come to get her and no alarms were blaring so she took that as a sign of an easy morning. She stretched, joints cracking, and slipped her shoes back on before leaving the room in just her jeans and gray T-shirt. She wandered down the hall until she heard voices and traced them to the kitchen area. She found most of the team there, bickering about something or another, while some of them made breakfast. The only ones missing were Tezz, Sage and Stanford. They fell silent when she entered.
"Morning," Agura said, trying to dissipate the awkward tension. She finished setting the table.
"Hey..." Diana felt unwanted and was debating leaving now so she could go fetch some stuff from home. AJ stopped her before she could.
"Want some pancakes?" he asked, placing a plate stacked with them on the table. "We've got plain, blueberry and chocolate, plus all the syrup you could possibly need."
She gave a small smile, thankful for the interaction. "Sure, I'll have some blueberry." She found a seat and made her plate, trying not to get too defensive about the others' faces. She couldn't blame them for not trusting her; she'd made it abundantly clear she didn't trust them and hadn't given them much cause to believe in her yet. She tried not to take it personally. It wasn't like she had that much faith in them either.
Agura gave them all a look before she sat down, wordlessly scolding them for being so obvious. Vert had just finished telling them not to push Diana away.
"Did you sleep well?" Vert asked between forkfuls of pancake.
Diana shrugged. "I slept okay. With everything that's happened I can't imagine I'll sleep all that calmly anytime soon."
"You'll get used to it," Agura offered.
"Yeah," Spinner said between a mouthful, words having difficulty with the obstacle, "with all the butt we kick it gets old pretty fast." He swallowed. "You'll get with the flow in no time."
She smirked at his childish manners. "I hope you know I barely understood any of that, but it sounded nice, so thanks." She took another bite.
"It sounded like a doofus trying to speak English," Agura said, shooting him a glare. "We've got plenty of food here, Spin, we don't need you to shoot it across the table."
The elder Cortez gulped down another bite with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
They sat there, eating and talking, and Diana found herself actually having a decent time until one of them asked the dreaded question.
"So," AJ began, not knowing the size of the land mine he was about to set foot on, "what brings you all the way out to our little slice of paradise?"
The others all looked at her, curious smiles in place. Diana set her fork down on her now empty plate and struggled for a response. "I... I don't know, really." She shrugged. "I was just looking for somewhere I could let off a little steam, y'know?"
"Something troubling you back home?" Vert asked, worried she'd neglected her personal life to join and wondering why she would've lied about it.
"No, I mean, yeah. Kind of." She scratched her neck, fingers brushing her chain. "Stuff just got to be a bit much and I wanted to get away, I guess." She cursed herself for sounding unsure. They were watching her, mistrust in their gazes.
"I thought you said you had nothing to worry about."
Diana locked eyes with Vert and hoped she didn't look too suspicious. "It's personal, okay?" she said after several moments. "I just... stuff back home got a little out of hand and I needed time away."
"So you have to go back, right?"
Zoom hadn't said much during breakfast and she was wishing he'd kept quiet. She chewed her lip. "I mean, yeah, eventually. But it's nothing major like you're thinking." Silence fell upon them after that and she found herself having an uncomfortable stare down. These people weren't just some desert lunatics. They were far more dangerous than that and now that she knew what was really going on she found herself almost afraid of them. She swallowed.
"Hey," she began in an attempt to lighten the mood, "y'know, I haven't even sat in my car yet. How about we test out my new ride?" She didn't want to be here anymore, seated at the receiving end of their scrutiny. And Whiplash did look fun, not to mention she could use the practice for when she got sucked into a fight.
Vert pursed his lips but didn't comment on the change in subject. "Yeah, sure. There's a test track out back. C'mon, I'll show you." He stood and motioned for her to follow. The others did as well, save for AJ, who offered to clean up.
A few minutes later saw Diana, Zoom, Vert, the Cortez brothers and Agura outside. The newbie and scout were on the track while the others stayed on the sidelines. Agura for tactical advice, Sherman for maintenance purposes, Vert for supervising and Spinner for 'the show.' The four watched her get ready in Whiplash.
"So, I know I'm new and all but you don't have to go easy one me," she said to Zoom, glad to be out of the stifling environment. She felt right at home behind the wheel. All of the controls were within easy reach and they all made sense to her. She knew where the weapons were. She knew where everything was, somehow. It was an inexplicable feeling she couldn't describe. Her fingers readjusted their grip.
"If you insist," he responded. "Spin, how about a countdown?"
"On your marks," he said with flair, bringing a hand up.
Zoom revved his bike while Diana grinned.
"Get ready..." He paused for dramatic affect. "Go!" He brought his hand down with a chopping motion, watching smoke fly up as the two shot off the line.
"Do you really think this is okay?" Vert asked Agura, trying to keep the Cortez brothers out of the conversation.
"We can't force her to tell us anything, Vert. All we can do is trust her. I know you don't like secrets but, come one, she really doesn't have a reason to tell us about her personal life yet. She barely knows us."
"And we barely know her," he said, frowning.
"Give it time. That's what you said before. You're not gonna second guess yourself, are you?"
"No, I guess that wouldn't be very leadership of me, now would it?" He felt his lips pull up at her reassuring smile.
Diana shifted up another gear as she maintained a comfortable distance from Zoom, hitting the first corner with precision and happy to feel very little body roll. For as wide as the thing was, it was quite maneuverable. She pushed the pedal down farther.
"How you holding up back there?" the scout asked, glancing behind himself.
Diana laughed. "I'm great!" She cut through the inside of the next turn, passenger side wheels brushing the edge of the track, and forced him behind her. "How're you?" She pushed ahead, flinging the car through the turns, testing its limits.
"No way! I refuse to be beaten by a newbie." He twisted the throttle and chased after her.
"She's not half bad," Sherman commented, watching the blue blur dart around each corner.
"Actually," came Agura, "she's a natural." Diana clearly had experience on the track if the way she kept Zoom in her rearview was anything to go by. Every time he tried to make a move, she'd block him or speed up. Whiplash seemed well-adapted for racing as well; the car kept itself planted in the turns and rocketed away in the straights. Given how it was powered by the Tangler's chip, its versatility shouldn't have come as much of a surprise.
Diana watched the scout tuck himself into his bike, no doubt trying to gain a little extra speed. She smiled as they whizzed past the others for the second time. This was so much better than she expected. She couldn't be bothered to wonder how she instinctively knew how to drive the car, she just kept going.
Zoom tried to squeeze by her as they veered left around another corner, wheels hugging the inside line and knee nearly scraping ground. He saw the way she leaned the car closer in an effort to force him back and he yanked the throttle, forced the front up and opened his blades to flip directly over her, helmet skimming the roof. He landed on her right and kept the throttle wide open, intending to take the inside of the next corner and gain some distance. He grit his teeth as they stayed neck and neck, until he began pulling ahead. Just a little more to go, he could do this.
Diana kept the pedal down, ignoring the rapidly approaching corner. She tightened her grip on the wheel and focused on catching back up.
Spinner kept all commentary to himself as the four of them watched the once friendly training exercise turn into an all-or-nothing race. Even Vert was invested. The last corner was right in front of them yet they didn't slow down. He feared Sherman might actually be needed soon.
Diana glanced ahead and cursed, down-shifting as quickly as she could and swinging the car into the turn. She felt the rear pull out and tried to force it back, losing speed in the process.
At the same time as Whiplash, Zoom slammed the brakes and sent the Chopper round the bend, tires shrieking. The double-wheeled design gave him less trouble than Diana and he made it across the line roughly a second sooner than she did.
They stopped several feet down the track, still shaking from the excitement. The others jogged towards them.
"I thought you said you just wanted to practice," Agura said as she reached Whiplash. She watched Diana get out with a bemused expression. The girl looked sheepish.
"Well, now I know how fast not to take a corner," she responded, fiddling with some hair.
Zoom laughed. "I know not to get on your bad side in a race. That was intense."
"Where'd you learn to drive like that?"
Diana looked at Sherman with a grin. "Practice makes perfect. Dad didn't give me that Camaro for nothing, you know. I learned from the best."
"Still, that was amazing. I don't think you'll have too much trouble in the Zones, that's for sure," said the elder Cortez.
Diana chuckled. "Let's hope not," she said with a hint of nervousness. She looked to Vert. He hadn't said a word.
"You'll do fine with us," he said, trying to trust Agura's words. "How about another couple of laps? You need to be comfortable behind the wheel."
Diana nodded. "I could run laps in this thing all day."
They spent a couple of hours out there, Diana doing time trials and combat exercises. Stanford hauled himself on the track too after getting a late breakfast and raced her a few times before they headed back in. Several minutes later saw Sage tell them to suit up and meet her in the Hub to inform them of a new mission.
"I have located a Re-Spawn Chamber," she said when they were all together. "Destroying it would be a devastating blow to Krytus."
"What's a Re-Spawn Chamber?" Diana questioned, feeling a nervous buzz kick in. Despite the lecture she'd received from the Sentient, there were still some things she didn't quite understand.
"It's like a checkpoint for Krytus and his Reds," Spinner explained. "If we blow it up and take one of them out, they won't be able to come back and it'll be one less bad guy to worry about."
"It's also the perfect first mission for you," Vert added, hopping into the Saber. "Get ready. It's you, me, Sherman and Spinner, Zoom and Tezz."
Diana quirked a brow at the name and turned to see the scientist walking over to his vehicle. She'd forgotten he'd even existed.
"You ready for this?" Zoom asked from his bike.
Diana grinned. "I was born ready." She was feeling jittery from the excitement. Now was the time to see firsthand what these Battle Zones were like and prove she could be trusted. She jogged over to Whiplash and followed them out into the desert.
