Word Count:
Goal: 8 000
Actual: 8 759

01 | 02

"Alright then. Let's see..." He came to a slow stop in front of a decadent fountain. "I'm enrolled in Western State University where I am currently working on my graduate studies in journalism. I also act as both editor and reporter for the campus newspaper there, the University Unified Press. I live off campus in an apartment about an hour away from here--"

"Wait. You drove an hour just to meet me? I mean, you should have told me. I wouldn't have insisted you meet me at the coffee house. I could have met you closer to your place!"

"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have agreed to the location if it were that inconvenient for me. I had some business to attend to over here. Besides," he said, flashing her a smile, "this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I just couldn't pass up. I'm glad I came; it's definitely been worth it."

She smiled back at him "So am I. Well, umm...I mean, I'm glad I came too. Umm, well no. I mean...I am...I'm glad we both came."

They fell quiet for the first time since they had left the cafe. They walked along the street looking at various antique shops and slowly their conversation returned to them. Thomas didn't seem to enjoy talking much about himself, but he didn't seem to have any qualms about hearing each and every single detail about Liz's life; he even went as far as to quiz her for more details about the anecdotes she shared with him. The mid afternoon gradually began to turn into the darker evening and they abandoned the small quaint street in favor of a quiet and little known restaurant so that they could have some semblance of privacy for the first time that day.

"I'm surprised you haven't had to fly off to save the city or anything."

"So am I. I rarely ever have this much time for myself. I guess you caught me on a lucky day."

Their waiter arrived, fumbling with their food when he realized who it was that he was serving.

"S- so- sorry about um th- that," he stumbled as he stood there, staring with his mouth somewhat agape at Liz.

"What's the matter with you?" snapped Thomas. "Never seen a super hero before or something? Get lost."

"Uh... uh yeah," the boy mumbled as he hurriedly made his exit.

"That was rude.

"I know! I can't believe that he was just staring at you so openly like that."

"No, Thomas," she chided. "I think what you said to him was rude. He can't help it. I'd stare too if I was a waitress and I ended up serving food to one of my city's protectors. And what would you have him do besides staring openly? Would you have him whisper about me behind our backs?"

"Uh, well..."

"Never thought about it like that, have you?"

Thomas looked at her, suddenly uncertain as to what was the correct answer.

Liz smiled at him unexpectedly. "That's the first time you haven't had a response to me all day." She laughed.

"Well, I apologize. You aren't quite what I had expected is all."

"Good," she said. "So many people have these preset notions as to what we heroes are supposed to be. It's like they all see Captain Amazing and the way he acts when he's on national TV. conducting an interview, and they just assume that's how we all are when actually, we are each our own people. We've got different personalities and characteristics, just like Mr. Average Joe.

"Take, for example," she continued, "Arch Cherie. Now she and I are both female super heroes that are members of the League and are about the same age, but we are very different people. Take, for example again, a hostage situation that the both of us were involved in just this last week. The both of us felt strongly that we had to first attempt some sort of negotiation talks with the perpetrators. But when that course of action didn't work, I felt that the best course of action would be to go in and rescue the hostages myself. But Arch Cherie felt that the best thing to do was to offer herself in exchange for the hostages until a better settlement could be agreed upon. That way, they couldn’t be harmed should our talks go sour. Eventually we managed to reach a compromise, freed the hostages, and arrested the criminals. But the key thing to remember is that the ways we each had originally thought to solve the situation were quite different.”

She laughed. “Don’t think that just because we all run around in brightly colored spandex that we—“

“So tell me what you want, what you really—“

“Liz here. Oh hey…ummm can’t this wai—They’re WHAT? And how much are they worth? Oh. Oh wow. Geez…okay. I guess I’m on my way then.” She turned towards Thomas. “Sorry, looks like I’ve got to go.”

He rose and tried to sway her. “No…wait. I’ve got—“

She was already gone.

#

“Well, well, well… look who decided to show up after all. I thought you were on a date.”

“Arch Cherie, I hate you.”

“Date? Who are you seeing? I thought you and Lightning Lad broke up!”

“We did.”

“It wasn’t a date.”

“Hey! Kids! We’ve got work to do.”

Four of the five heroes present quickly shut up and waited for their leader to dole out more instructions. Long Shot wasn’t in a good mood, and none of them wanted to risk crossing him. It was said among Leaguers that he had once managed to throw a knitting needle into the head of Mister Menace, giving him an instant lobotomy.

No one was brave enough to ask why either he or Mister Menace had been around knitting needles in the first place.

Maverick glanced around the room containing her team mates. All of them were currently provisional members of the League of Super Powered Allies and were being mentored by Long Shot. There were rumors that Lightning Lad was going to be picked up as a full time member soon, or that he had been offered full membership already and turned it down so that he could hone his skills some more before joining, but neither were the actual case. He had told Maverick when they were dating that, sometime before she had joined the League, he had seriously botched up a mission when Captain Amazing had been acting as the team’s advisor and the situation had caused some sort of huge public relations scandal. Supposedly Captain Amazing had been put into a compromising position and vowed that Lightning Lad would never join the League full time so long as he lived.

Out of the other members of her team, Maverick had never really fostered any sort of close bond. Starla seemed nice enough, but she was the youngest member of the team, and as such, she had very little in common with the rest of her comrades since she was the only one who was still in high school and not at the college level yet.

Arch Cherie was a bit…intense for her tastes. Supposedly she was the daughter of Power House, but the former League member had retired years before any of them had been born and immediately cut off all ties she had with the League, so no one could be totally sure of the verity of those rumors. Still, if the gossip was true, Maverick could understand where Arch Cherie was coming from. It had to be hard having a mother who was once the most celebrated female in the entire galaxy during her youth. Talk about having a lot of pressure upon yourself to succeed.

Lightning Lad was the eldest member of the team, after Long Shot of course. He had been on it since he was about fourteen, and was easily the most experienced out of the provisional recruits. Maverick had dated him briefly about a year ago, but they had parted ways agreeing to remain friends. That was perhaps one of the downsides of being one of the few League members, full time or not, that was completely honest about her secret identity in public. Her work had slowly edged its way into all other aspects of her life. Conversely, Lightning Lad was highly secretive about his alternate identity, and had only told Maverick accidentally after having too much to drink after a mission had gone awfully awry.

But Long Shot was the tragedy out of all of them. He and his twin sister, Sniper, had been recruited when they were both only thirteen. They came from a family with a long history as the world’s best sharp shooters. But everyone in the League knew about Sniper’s defection to the Legion of Malevolence. There had been a huge show down, and Sniper had shot her brother in the head. He survived his injury, but not without his scars. He wore an eye patch over his blinded eye and carried the bullet that had been lodged in his eye ball around his neck as a reminder that he would one day have his revenge. None of them had ever been able to figure out just how it was that out of all of the League’s most notable members, he was the one chosen to prepare them for their membership trials that would supposedly ensure each of them a position in the League.

None of them wanted to think about what would happen if they failed their trials.


Chapter Three: There is no “I” in Team, but there is “me”—pros and cons to fighting crime while with a squad of super powered comrades

When assembling an alliance of heroes with which you wish to fight crime, which of the following attack types is most important to include?
a) Speedster – he’s super fast and as such he’s able to sabotage the enemy before he’s even noticed
b) Marksman – he’s able to hit the enemy from a far away distance, perhaps even far enough away that the enemy won’t know what hit him
c) Brick/Tank – he’s tough and he can run through walls and without feeling any pain.
d) Blaster – Distance attacks are always good, and this guy has the ability to cauterize wounds and start fires from about one hundred feet away.

#

“Okay. Here’s the damage. Feline Fatale hit up a rare jewels exhibit. She’s currently heading west along Nader Street. Lightning Lad, I want you and Starla to pull up her tail—pun not intended—while Arch Cherie and Maverick try to head her off. I’ll follow behind you and pick up whatever slack the four of you will undeniably be leaving in your wake.” Long Shot glanced around at his group of charges. “Okay then. What are you waiting for? Get moving!”

They scattered. He never had to tell anyone twice. It was one of the perks of being, well…himself.

He pulled his communicator off his belt and keyed in his security clearance code.

“Long Shot to Captain Amazing, please respond.”

“This is Captain Amazing. What do you need now? I’m a bit busy right now.”

“We’re on our way to deal with Feline Fatale. I thought you’d want to be kept updated on our current situation. I’ve got Arch Cherie and Maverick meeting her head on and Lightning Lad and Starla pulling up from behind.”

“What about you? Don’t tell me one of the League’s most valuable members is just sitting back and allowing his students to do all the work?”

“Ha ha. That would be funny if I had been born with a sense of humor. I figured I just stand back and watch what they can do. They really are a remarkable bunch of kids. I think Lightning Lad needs to be put up for League membership again.”

“Are you forgetting how dead set he was at not permanently joining up? That incident three years ago really shook him up.”

“That is partly your fault, you know. You scared the poor kid into thinking he’d never be allowed into the League.”

“Oh come on, Long Shot. You know I have the highest regard for the kid. I told you so when you took charge of the team. Have a little faith in the kid.”

“I do. The problem is that he doesn’t have any faith in himself.” Long Shot paused and turned to look behind himself. “I’m going to let you go. I’ve got a bad feeling about this mission.”

“Are you sure? That’s never good. The last time you had a bad feeling about a mission—“

“—I know. I’m going to try to catch up with the kids.”

“Just be careful. The League wouldn’t be the same without you…Roy.”

“Haha…you better watch that—Steve. We only use code names when we’re in costume, remember? It’s in the League’s code.”

“Screw the League. I’m beginning to think we need to do some rearranging of those damn articles. We’ve been doing this together since we were teens, Roy. Don’t tell me you don’t feel the same unease that I do.”

“Look, I’d love to stay and discuss the League’s twisted politics with you, but I’ve got some very promising young upstarts to look after. Long Shot out.”

“Fine then. Have it your way. I’ve got a mutated gorilla to take care of in Manhattan anyways. Captain Amazing out.”

Long Shot put up his communicator, and took one more parting glance behind himself. Something was going on, and he didn’t know what it was. He wasn’t going to let anything sneak up on him again.

But his sleuthing could come later; right now he had a bunch of young pups to look after.

#

“So you were on a date, huh?”

Lightning Lad and Maverick were racing along the rooftops, high above the streets where clueless pedestrians walked, heading perhaps towards some hot new club or home for dinner or off to who knew where.

Maverick frowned. “Why do you care?”

“No reason. Just curious is all. Trying to figure out whether I should take Arch Cherie seriously or not.”

She glanced down at him from her spot in the sky. “Well, it’s not very often that Arch Cherie finds reason to lie.”

“Stop avoiding the question, Maverick. If you don’t want to answer me then don’t.”

She stopped short. He passed her, then ran back to meet her face to face.

“Luke,” she spoke quietly, “if you’ve got a problem with me seeing other people, then why did you agree to break up at all?”

“It’s not that.” His voice was terse and he refused to meet her eyes, glancing about nervously.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s just—“

“Starla to Maverick. Come in.”

Lightning Lad and Maverick glanced at each other and held each other gazes as she responded to the younger heroine.

“Maverick here. What is it, Starla?”

“Umm…well, it’s just… Are you sure Long Shot won’t mind that we traded places? I mean, he assigned teams for a reason, right? Maybe we should—“

“Look. Don’t worry about it Starla. Anything happens, I’ll take the blame, okay?”

“Oh, Maverick…I don’t want you to get in trouble! I—“

“Look Starla, it was her idea, let her take whatever comes her way for deviating from orders. As it stands, we’re about ten miles off from target and we need to cut communications before somebody hacks in. So shut up. Arch Cherie and Starla out.”

“Maybe I should have just gone with Arch Cherie.”

Lightning Lad laughed. “Don’t worry about it. She may be hard, but even she’s not evil enough to try to kill Starla. That would just be asking for some god’s wrath to descend upon her.”

“You’re right.” Maverick laughed. “Come on, let’s hurry up and get into position…leader.”

“Don’t speak so quickly. You know I’ll be on the provisional team for the rest of my life.”

They took off.

“How do you know that, Luke? I don’t think Captain Amazing hates you nearly as much as you think. I have a lot of faith in you. I think you’ll be a great hero one day.”

“Exactly. One day. As in not now—not anytime soon. I’m nowhere near being anything even remotely resembling hero material right now. I’ve got a long way to go, Liz. Saving the day doesn’t come as naturally to everyone as it does to you. Some of us have to work.”

“And others, like you, are under some false presumption that they are much worse than they actually are. I know that you’d be great, Luke. You just need to stop punishing yourself and allow yourself to step into the shoes that are just waiting there for you to fill.”

#

“Maverick, right!”

Maverick dodged the deadly whip and felt it whiz past her head, screaming in the air with its speed.

“Thanks Starla!”

The worst part of fighting Feline Fatale had to be her vast collection of whips. The one she had chosen for this particular occasion was electrically charged and it buzzed as its owner expertly wielded it with sharp flicks of her wrist.

But Feline Fatale usually took work as an assassin. It was unusual for her to hit such a low-level target as a traveling gem exposition. Add in to that the fact that she preferred to work alone, but was working this job as a Legion of Malevolence hit…none of it sat well with Arch Cherie and Lightning Lad. As the most experienced members of the team, they both had their suspicions that something deeper was going on here and they were worried by the fact that their mentor was still missing in action at a time when his students needed him.

“Any sign of him yet?” She turned grabbed Starla by the arm and hauled her out of the way of that damnable whip yet again. Honestly, this girl was the sweetest creature in the whole world, but she could be such a hassle during a battle.

“No.” Lightning Lad’s answer was terse. “Are you alright, Starla?”

The youngest girl smiled weakly. “I’m hanging in there Lightning Lad. Thanks.”

The three of them turned their heads up towards the sky, where Maverick attacked Feline Fatale from above with her energy blasts.

“Damn it. We need Long Shot.”

Arch Cherie pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it in her bow.

“Chill, brave leader. I’ll buy your girlfriend some extra space.”

“We’re not dating anymore.”

“Sure you’re not. That’s why you are totally and completely not jealous of the fact that she went out with some guy today.” She shot.

“Geez! I only have three arrows left.”

“Then I suggest you don’t miss me.” The silky fourth voice came from behind them.

“Flexion!”

The trio barely had time to scatter before he struck. The shape shifter shot out his arms and came dangerously close to decapitating Arch Cherie.

She ducked, then rolled and nocked another arrow.

She fired and her arrow whizzed neatly through Flexion without damaging him one bit.

“Sorry to disappoint you.” He inclined his head towards her. “But your arrows won’t have much of an effect against me.”

“Well why don’t you try this on for size!”

An huge ball of energy came flying down from the sky and struck the villain squarely.

“Aaah!”

He screamed and spasmed.

Maverick flew done and hovered a few feet above the ground.

“I took the privilege of taking care of your little friend. I don’t think Feline Fatale will be up to walking for a few weeks. Now why don’t we talk about why the two of you known loners have suddenly decided to work together, hmm?”

“Nice try Maverick, but I have places to be and people to see. I’ll leave you with this little message though from the Legion: cherish the world as you know it, because pretty soon you are going to find that it is going to be radically altered.”

The dark shape shifter bowed and his body melted down and slipped away down into a near by sewage drain.

“Well,” sighed Lightning Lad as he turned around, “at least we’ve still got…damn it.”

Feline Fatale had somehow managed to slip away—with the jewels.