Chapter Text
Dakota
?
Icon flew towards the heart of the city. Smoke rose in streams from between the buildings as a beacon, signaling where the trouble was. Icon set her sights on the smoke and increased her speed.
"Icon. Icon!" a voice called to her on her communicator.
"V?" she answered.
Virgil growled. "Girl you are gonna have to stop just flying off! Do you even know what you're up against?"
"I will once you tell me."
"It's Rainsaw."
"Rainsaw? You're worried about that rusted, busted piece of junk?" Nearing her destination she descended, flying above crowds of terrified people. The onlookers pointed and cheered. Their savior had arrived.
"Yeah, well according to police radios it looks like he's been getting more iron in his diet. He's at least three times his size," Virgil informed her.
"That's an exaggeration right?"A car flew over Icon's head, if it could still be called a car, it was ripped to shreds. Luckily it landed in a place free of civilians.
"You're the one on the ground," said Virgil. Icon could almost see Virgil shrug. "You tell me."
Icon flew around a corner and she saw him, her, it. Icon had never gotten the villain's complete back story. Rainsaw was a living column of whirling blades, and it had indeed grown in size. Normally it was the same height as an average human. Now it towered over the masses.
Policemen had long since given up trying to defeat the meta human. A line of them fired into the twirling column, hoping only to distract it long enough to allow civilians to escape.
Icon charged her force bolts and fired. The energy blasts blew large chunks out of the whirlwind, gaining the villain's attention. "That's right ugly, over here!" she yelled. Rainsaw gave an inhuman wail and charged in her direction.
"You'd think that once, just once the bad guys would have better timing," Icon whispered into her com. She flew off, searching for a less inhabited part of the city.
Virgil scoffed. "Oh. Was your meeting with your friend interrupted."
"Yes It was."
"I really don't get what you see in that guy."
Rocket dodged an attack by Rainsaw, the blades whooshed past her in the shape of a missile. It crashed into a nearby building, tearing through steel and concrete. "I don't get why you're so against it. Has he ever done anything bad to you?" She dodged another missile.
"No," Virgil answered, his voice tight.
"Have you ever caught him doing something bad to anyone at all?" Rocked turned and flew backwards, she fired a few force blasts into Rainsaw, slowing the villain down. Satisfied she resumed flying while facing forward.
Virgil groaned. "No. The guy's a saint alright."
"Then what's the problem?"
"I just don't think the guy's right for you."
Icon found a lot under construction, and hovered, waiting for Rainsaw to catch up. "And you're the one who gets to decide what's right for me?"
"You know what. Never mind." Virgil cut communication.
Rainsaw found her. It roared. It stretched itself over Icon, covering the sky with its many blades.
"V? V!" Icon yelled into her communicator. "Great," She said through clenched teeth. She blasted at random. The blades fell, littering the ground.
Icon landed and surveyed her work. The shards wiggled, and then sank into the soft ground. The ground shook, and a metallic arm rose from the dirt, its hand shaped like a buzzsaw blade. It trashed about, attacking Icon. She blasted the arm and it split into the shards that made it. Two more arms rose from the ground to replace it. Icon leapt into the air and flew further into the construction site. A third arm rose from the ground, cutting off her path. She blasted it and kept moving forward. The fourth she couldn't completely dodge, the blades snagged her cape. She tugged it, ripping the fabric free and continued onwards. Three rose at once, trapping her. They shifted to create a metal dome and sunk under ground, taking Icon with it.
Explosions tore the ground apart, leaving a giant crater. Icon stood in the crater, panting. The shards twitched, still alive. This is not the type of fight you can win with brawn, she thought. Too bad my brain hung up on me. She kept all sorts of gadgets on her person. Little knickknacks Virgil designed in his spare time. She ran through them in her mind, and selected a small box with speakers on all sides. The shards gathered, creating a large wave that towered over her. It swelled before crashing downwards . Icon activated the device. It released a high frequency pulse, luckily it was enough to disrupt Rainsaw's ability to hold itself together. The blades fell like rain and for once were still.
Icon placed the cube down gently. "Well! I can come up with a good plan myself if I put my mind to it." She examined the fallen pieces, kicking them just to be certain. She uncovered a flat piece of metal among the shards that was tinted red. The symbol for Alva Industries was etched onto its surface.
The Cave
January 25, 16: 45 EDT
The Team huddled on the sidelines of their training area, watching their leader train. Or, at least that is what he called it, the others were not convinced. It had been several days since the incident in Dakota, and the team had received no word. They were all agitated by the situation, a few of them even left on their own to try to find Raquel themselves, but it was useless. No one could penetrate the bubble.
He called it training, but the Team felt bad for the practice dummy. Kaldur was angry. He admitted it, but without knowing him one would assume that he was only mildly upset. Batman left him to it. Black Canary looked on with concern, but realized that there was nothing for it. Connor offered to be an actual sparing partner but Kaldur refused. So Kaldur continued his session with the dummy, the only sign of his frustration was a large puddle of sweat on the training room floor.
Kaldur hit the dummy with the appropriate amount of force, just enough that the dummy would not break, and this particular dummy was strong enough to handle punishment from Superboy. It shook and rattled with each blow. He had been at it for hours. Kaldur was calculating, his eyebrows knit in concentration. He would continue to sort things out until he could find a solution, or think of someone else who could.
Dakota
?
Students shuffled out of their seats and packed their bags as the bell rang. They moved slowly, unhappy to go to next period. Their science teacher, Mr. Kim, had a knack for making the subject entertaining.
"Mr. Hawking. Mr. West. I need to see you for a few seconds after class," Mr. Kim said, while erasing the chalk board.
"Can't you see us for more than a few seconds?" Virgil asked.
Mr. Kim beamed. "But then you would miss Ms. Brauer's class."
"Exactly! Come on Wally. Help me out here."
Wally slung his arms around Virgil's shoulders. "You're on your own man. I am not going to explain to the Nazi why we skipped class."
The students still loitering in class giggled.
Mr. Kim's smile disappeared. "That's not appropriate."
"It's just a joke."
Mr. Kim pointed to Wally and Virgil with the eraser. "No," he said, his voice hard as steel. Wally and Virgil straightened. "Ms. Ervin can you let Ms. Brauer know that the boys will be late."
Raquel made a face. "Why me?"
"Please." Mr. Kim smiled again.
Raquel sighed. "Alright." She rushed into the hallway, fuming.
Ms. Eskandari brushed past Raquel on her way into the classroom. A pair of students followed her. "Virgil. Wallace. I need to talk to you about the competition."
"I need them to enter the robotics competitions Alva's holding," said Mr. Kim.
"Too late. They have already entered the math competition."
"But you have two geniuses already." He gestured to the students standing behind Ms. Eskandari. "Daisy and Robin should be more than enough. You don't need two teams."
"I want two teams." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Mr. Kim clasped his hands. He sat in his chair and tilted it back. "Are you sure we can't make a deal?"
Ms. Eskandari's eyes narrowed. "You're not charming your way out of this one Kim."
He smirked. "At least let me try."
******
Raquel continued down the hallway in a negative mood. Virgil had refused to speak to her, or even look at her. Who did he think he was anyway? It's not like it was his business. She could date who she wanted. He wasn't her keeper. Her internal ranting only made her feel worse.
Frieda had to jog to catch up to her friend. "Are you going to tell me what's up between you two?"
"Virgil's not talking to me."
Frieda shook her head. "What did you do?"
"What did I do!" Raquel's voice rose. "I did nothing! He's the one acting like a child. Getting mad just because I'm going to the dance with Kal."
"Oh…"
"Oh? Oh what?"
"You know Virgil likes you right?"
"No he doesn't."
"I don't mean to interrupt-"A girl tapped Raquel's shoulder. Raquel and Frieda turned to see Artemis. It was uniform day and she wore the green uniform of the Junior Army ROTC. The cords attached to her shoulders signified her as a ranking officer and a member of the riffle team. Her blond hair was braided and wrapped into a bun at the nape of her neck. "But Virgil does like you."
"How do you know?" Raquel asked.
"Your friend complains nonstop to Wally, and Wally complains about his complaining, to me. "
"Sorry…"
"Yeah, well. Do me a favor, and just talk to him about it. It's driving me crazy." Artemis stalked off to her next class, leaving a bewildered Raquel behind.
****
Ms. Brauer grimaced at the clipboard, her blue eyes narrowed."Evin! You're friends with Hawkins, where is he?"
The students sat on the gym floor. They all flinched when Ms. Brauer spoke.
Raquel ducked her head. She was hoping that Ms. Brauer wouldn't notice Virgil's absence."Mr. Kim needed to speak to him. He's also talking to Wally. I think it's about some competition. He said that he will send them when he's done."
"No respect," Ms. Brauer muttered under her breath. She placed her hands on her hips and her frown deepened. It made her already imposing figure grow in size. The student's cowered on the floor.
"We do have a reputation to uphold Ms Brauer." Ms Kameya appeared at the gymnasiums door, holding her clipboard.
Ms. Brauer raised an eyebrow. "I believe that I had a hand in developing that reputation."
"No one is discrediting your work with the Football team."
"Or the track team. Or the wrestling team. Either way this is my period. If a teacher has not finished their business by the time the bell rings, then they need to schedule a meeting after school."
Kameya smiled. "You can let it slip this on time can't you?" Ms. Kameya pleaded. "Give Mr. West a few extra laps during track practice."
"And Hawkins?"
"I'm sure you can think of something."
"Fine. Is that all Ms Kameya?"
"Is it possible that I could get a moment of your time? Just 15 minutes." She folded her hands in a praying gesture.
"Laps," Ms. Brauer commanded. "Around the basket ball court."
Her student's whispered their complaints.
"Now!"
The students groaned as they rose from the court floor and began to jog. Raquel and Frieda caught up to Richie. They each took an arm holding him hostage.
"Good afternoon ladies," he said, his voice shaking a bit from being nervous. "What can I do for you."
Raquel ignored the formalities and cut strait to the point. "How long has Virgil had a crush on me."
Richie slumped."There's no point trying to pretend that I'm clueless is there?"
"Nope," Frieda said. "I've known for a few months but I'm sure he's spilled his guts to you. So talk."
Richie sighed. "I have a better question."
"Okay," Raquel said, hesitant.
"You two have known each other for years right?"
"Yes."
"Did you know that he liked you when you first met?"
"He thought I was cute." Raquel shrugged. "It's a curse I bear from being effortlessly attractive."
Frieda giggled.
"He more than thought you was cute," Richie corrected.
"Whatever it was he got over it," Raquel snapped. "Now stop stalling."
"Well, now I have one more question. What made you think he got over it?"