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gloves94 · 4 years ago

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Sunburn [Prince Zuko] 36

Warnings: FLUFF AHEAD Rating: PG-13 Pairings: Zuko/OC

Sunburn Chapter M A S T E R L I S T My fan fiction M A S T E R L I S T

"I still can't believe I didn't come out!" Mecha complained as he leaned on the kitchen's counter sulking, about his missing appearance on The Boy in the Iceberg.

"Maybe you'll get your own spin off!" His sister said optimistically as she poured some orange blossom chamomile tea on a cup for him. It was late and the group had been emotionally drained by the time they returned from the theatre. "I mean your days in the Earth Kingdom were no walk in the park, don't even get me started on your scars." She said mentioning the lightning vines that marked his body.

"You think Mai will think they are cool?" He said looking down at his scarred arm with a dumb grin on his face. "I'm sure she'll lovethem." His sister rolled her eyes and took a sip from her own tea.

Attending to see The Boy in the Iceberghad been a terrible idea and had brought everybody's spirits down. Presently Mecha was trying to make his sister feel better by sharing a midnight cup of tea with her. It seemed like the rest of the gang was asleep. When suddenly the two heard the beach house's front doors open and close. They listened to the approaching footsteps and their mysterious guest entered the small kitchen.

He looked slightly out of breath and not like he had just been sleeping in the least.

"Zuko?" Her brother asked raising an eyebrow. "Where were you?" Tsai asked knowingly, observing he had obviously gone on a little night field trip by himself.

Their eyes met and he inhaled a deep breath.

xxx

Somewhere on the island playwright Pu On Tim author of The Boy in the Iceberg arrived home that evening and to his horror found that everything he loved and owned had either been shredded to bits and pieces or scorched into ashes by fire. He shrieked in fright as he dropped to his knees all of his works, his livelihood, his plays! All destroyed!

xxx

"Nowhere," he answered mysteriously. A blatant lie at that.

"Did you guys hear something?" Mecha asked looking over his shoulder. He could've sworn he heard a distant scream echoing somewhere in Ember Island.

"Right.…"She said narrowing her eyes in suspicion yet deciding to drop the topic. "Do you want some tea?" She asked awkwardly. "Sure," he said softly before walking around the kitchen island counter and taking a seat on the stool next to her. It didn't take a genius to sense the tension that still lingered around the two of them.

"Phew, will you look at the time." Her brother whistled out taking his cup of tea with him as he walked out of the kitchen. “You know what they say early to bed early to rise." He said awkwardly. "Got to go…." He said slowly sliding out of the kitchen area. Of course, not before flashing Zuko a deathly glare which only he caught.

She poured some tea in another cup and he thanked her for it taking a small sip.

There was a heavy silence between them.

"The play.…The actors. Geez, they were terrible. I've seen better shows at the colonial festival. Can't believe they would do that to Love Amongst the Dragons." She broke the silence.

"Yeah," He let out a humorous huff.

Both took an awkward sip of their teas glancing away from each other.

"We should watch it one day. Love Amongst the Dragons?" He suggested quietly. "I'd like that!" she said genuinely at the idea of them going back and seeing an actually decent production in a theater. "When did you have in mind? Before or after your dad makes roast kabobs out of us?" She finished in a pessimistic tone lowering her teacup.

"Let's be real you'd be fine." He smirked a little. If anybody could survive a fire blast from anyone id would be her.

She shook her head and couldn't help but smile a little. He gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze and let his hand rest there for a moment. It was nice. This was nice. Having him in her life again like this. Especially now that he was so grown. It was almost as if he was a completely different person than when they had first met…

"It's because of the comet right?" She looked at him oddly snapping out of her train of thought. "The reason why you haven't been sleeping well."

She let out a draining exhale and pressed her forehead against the counter holding the top of her head. He looked around agonizingly. Zuko wasn't good at comforting people. What was he supposed to do? His eyes scanned the room looking for an answer.

'What would Uncle do?'He thought to himself in a brief moment of panic.

"Here," he poured more tea into her cup. "Drink this," he said putting the warm cup in her hand. She rolled her head to the side and looked at him with a weak smile.

"I just have this awful gut-wrenching feeling about that day." She closed her eyes for a moment and once again saw the red skies, the ash raining as destruction and fire consumed the world. "And nobody seems to be taking it seriously. Aang doesn't seem to care, and it's-it's just so stressful." She poured out to him. In a venting fashion.

She shrugged her shoulders a little in an attempt to emotionally compose herself and sit up straight taking a small sip of her tea. As she attempted to push all fear to the back of her head. "You're not wrong to worry." He said comfortingly. She turned at him and felt a flood of emotions pour out. How had he managed to become this person? How had he managed to make her fall so deeply and unmistakably in love with him? She couldn't help but think about the first time they met. Never in a million years would she have imagined that she would feel this way about the irritable prince. She leaned forward craving for more of his comfort. More of him and hugged him tightly. She buried her face on his shoulder. He hugged her back.

"I love-" She was surprised when she was interrupted by a loud, brash shush.

Pulling away from the hug she looked at him confused. "Don't. Don't say it." He said to her in all seriousness both of his hands on her shoulders. She looked at him perplexed.

"You're acting as if we're going to die." He said to her, his brows knotting in concern.

"What if we are. What if we do die?"

He shook his head lightly and closed his eyes not wanting to think about such an abhorrent outcome. No. That would not happen. Hewould notlet it happen. "We won’t." He insisted his grip tightened on her shoulders fingers sinking into her skin.

"But what if we do?" She insisted. A cocktail of strong emotions reflected on her eyes. An exasperated expression on her face.

His molten golden eyes met her light brown ones and they starred intensely at each other. Almost like a show down. Both waiting for the other to make the next move. Who would shoot first?

He saw her open her mouth slightly and clamped a hand over it before she could speak. She let out a muffled sound and looked at him fiercely. "Don't. Say. It. Tsai." He growled out every word separately his face inching dangerously close to hers.

Her eyes narrowed intensely. The slightest of sly smiles playing on his lips. She was determined to say it. She had spent so much time plotting and worrying over how she would confess her feelings for him just for him to have this type of ridiculous reaction? It wasn't fair.

She reached for his hand and removed it from her mouth roughly. She caught the other halfway as he reached for her. She barely managed to get a word out before he silenced her. Roughly smashing his lips against hers. She couldn't help but laugh a little. The impulse so strong it knocked her off her seat. The stool noisily clattering to the floor.

They both fell to the kitchen floor ungracefully.

“Are you okay?” He asked gruffly landing on top of her. He still held both of her hands in his and held them against the floor next to both sides of her head.

She ignored the slight ache from the impact against the floor.

“Zuko I lo-“She was determined. Again, he interrupted her. He kissed her again to silence her and she sighed content relaxing into his warm touch. She wanted to touch him, to hold him, to run her hands through this hair. Maybe pull at it a little…

He pulled away and looked at her with such an emotion that she suddenly felt vulnerable under his golden gaze. She could feel his thumb stroking the side of her hand gently. She didn’t know someone could ever look at another person with such burning intensity.

“I know.” He admitted his voice gentle, tone soft almost like a whisper. “Tsai. I know.” He repeated. “Don’t say it." He asked her. "Sometimes you don’t have to say anything.”

He removed himself off her and she sat up slightly leaning towards him. She smiled at him sweetly and inclining forward touching his face with her free hand gently.

“You’re right.” She agreed. “Sometimes you just have to feel it.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his face again.

He stood up sluggishly, hoisting her up both still in each other’s arms bringing her to her feet as well.

“It’s late, let’s go to bed.” He mumbled against her arm.

“I won’t be able to.” She said letting go of him and turning away. She already knew that her insomnia will get the best of her. “Come on.” He said with a small love-struck grin as he placed his hands on her shoulders and guided her to her room.

Xxxx

"More ferocious!" Zuko barked, crossing his arms and frowning sternly as he scrutinized over the Avatar’s firebending forms.

Aang furrowed his brow in concentration as he swung his arms, bending arcs of fire from his hands medium flames spitting out. Zuko narrowed his eyes as Aang walked past him, shooting short bursts of fires from his fists.

"Imagine striking through your opponent's heart!"

Aang firebended a large blast in front of him then whirled around to face his firebending teacher, he threw his arms out in frustration. "Ugh! I'm trying. I'm trying!"

"Now let me hear you roar like a tiger-dillo!" Zuko ordered ignoring his student’s complains.

Aang growled and spun away from his teacher, stretching his arms out to the side and throwing his head back as he roared softly, weak streams of fire coming out of his palms and mouth.

"That was pathetic!” His teacher pressed angrily. “I said roar!" He ordered himself roaring as he barked out the command.

You’d think that after last night the prince would be in a better mood. However, it was of imperial importance for Aang to fully master fire bending. Hell, the fate of the world depended on it and there really was no time to waste. Sozin’s comet would be here in three days’ time.

Aang narrowed his eyes in concentration, a determined look on his face as he spun back around, flung his arms out to the side. He tossed his head back, letting out a tiger-dillo worthy ferocious roar out. Fire spewed from his palms and mouth in a violent outburst of flames.

Momo screeched and scurried towards Zuko, hiding behind his legs and lowering his ears in fear.

Zuko crossed his arms and smirked slightly, nodding in approval at his student.

"Who wants a nice, cool glass of watermelon juice?" Katara called out as she finished filling two hollowed out watermelons, holding them up with a sweet smile. It was a particularly hot day making the beads of juice dripping down the curve of the watermelons impossible to resists.

"Ooh, ooh!" Aang turned around with an excited look on his face. His mouth watering at the thought of the refreshing beverage. "Me, me, me!"

"Hey!" Zuko barked in annoyance, grabbing the back of Aang's sash when he tried to run towards the melon drink. "Your lesson is not over yet!" He held Aang up in a halt. The younger boy struggled to break free, scowling as he snapped, "Get back here."

"What's the big deal? It's just a short break." Suki shrugged.

“Yeah, and it’s super-hot.” Mecha added before taking a sip from his own watermelon.

"Fine." Zuko scowled. He released Aang and crossed his arms as the young boy dashed up the stairs the fastest that anybody had ever seen him move. He took the watermelon Katara held out to him and drank it greedily enjoying every sip of the refreshing beverage.

"If you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail-sloths all day, then go ahead!" Zuko said barked angrily addressing the group before shaking his head and walking past them and back inside the beach house.

"Maybe Zuko's right." Sokka commented mindlessly. "Sitting around the house has made us pretty lazy. But I know just the thing to do." He set his watermelon aside and stood up slowly before impulsively removing his clothes revealing a pair of shorts underneath. Woah Sokka was ready to go!

"Beach party!"

Xxx

Tsai sat in the kitchen alone enjoying two slices of toast with peanut butter and fire banana slices.

“Good morning,” she said with a sweet smile when Zuko walked into the kitchen.

For what seemed like the first time in forever she actually slept more than seven hours. Even woke up late which was a refreshing change compared to all of the disturbing sleepless nights she had endured.

“I can’t believe he’s not taking this seriously!” The other stepped into the kitchen frustrated and took a seat across from her. “Uh? Bad morning?” She questioned raising an eyebrow.

“It’s Aang.” He sighed sounding frustrated. “You’re right. Everybody is laying around like snail-sloths while the Fire Lord is planning a massive invasion in three days.”

Zuko looked at her oddly when he heard her coughing beating her chest hard as her food went down her windpipe. “What?” She choked in surprise; her eyes wide ‘THREE DAYS?’. He looked at her oddly. “I thought you knew?”

Just like that she lost her appetite. The stress once again knotting in her back.

“The day before the eclipse. Do you remember the meeting I had with my father?”

She nodded slowly following as she did memory of the day before the Black Sun.

“Sozin’s Comet will endow firebenders with the strength and power of a thousand suns. Nobody will stand a chance. My great-grandfather used the comet to wipe out the Air Nomads now my father wants to use it to wipe out the Earth Kingdom. Permanently.”

“What?” seemed to be the only word she could manage to say. Her palms growing sweaty as her mind was once again clouded with that vision of raining ash and a burning sky… It made sense now.

“And you didn’t say anything?!” She said her tone louder than she intended.

“I wanted to speak out against his horrifying plan,” he said quietly bowing his head with shame. “But I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t. You know that my whole life I struggled to gain my father’s love and acceptance, and once I had it. I realized I lost myself getting there. I had forgotten who I was.”

She looked at him with an outraged expression.

“Where’s Aang?” She said rising to her feet.

“I overheard Sokka saying they were going to the beach.”

“… bunch of lazy snail-sloths…” She grumbled under her breath and he saw her reach for the kitchen knife she had used to prepare her breakfast and rush out of the beach house.

Aang wasn’t taking this seriously enough. All he was thinking about was ways to woo Katara and beach parties when the world was about to end in just a couple of days.

“Tsai!” He called after her. “What are you doing?” He asked when he caught up to her. Her strides long and determined as she crossed the center courtyard. “I’m going to teach Aang a lesson.” She said darkly.

She continued in her strides but came to a brief halt. She brushed her hair out of her forehead and let out a sharp breath.

“Doesn’t it make you just want to- “She made a frustrated sound and opened and closed her hands in an aggressive comical gesture “Doesn’t it just makes your blood boil?Aang doesn’t stand a chance fighting the Father Lord!”

“Maybe not, but you do.”

“Me?!” She stepped back. Defeating the Fire Lord was nother destiny. It was Aang’s. Hewas the Avatar. It was hisduty to bring peace and balance to the unstable world that they lived in. Her destiny - She was the Spirit of the Sun and just another girl from the Fire Nation colonies – but her destiny… That was a whole other matter that she still hadn’t pieced together. “Why do you look so shocked? You did break his nose.”

“It was a lucky shot!” She protested. “Besides yeah maybe I can walk through fire but one shock,” she extended out her hand pretending to blast a bolt of lightning at him. “And I’m toast!”

She dropped her arms to the side and shook her head. “If the best I can do is make Aang take things a little more seriously then so be it.”

She pouted a little arm crossed over her chest, butter knife still at hand. “Want to help?”

Xxx

They looked at them sunbathing, surfing, building sandcastles and shapes in the sand. Her type A personality felt triggered by the slacking off. “I’ll take the high-ground.”

Sokka, Aang and Toph were currently looking standing around a massive monster sand blob it seemed like they were laughing at it or at Sokka. Not like it mattered. Aang was about to eat a mouthful of sand.

They watched him like predators. He was scratching his head in confusion pointing at the sand blob saying something.

“Aah!” He yelped shielding himself when a hot burst of fire destroyed the sand sculpture making a sandstorm rain. He turned gawking and saw Zuko leap of the edge of a cliff mercilessly blasting fire in his direction.

The young Avatar shouted in surprise barely managing to dodge the flames as he ran away from the raging prince leaping over an identical sand replica of Ba Sing Se. Zuko landed and continued chasing Aang.

“What are you doing?!” Aang cried out fearfully as he hid behind a sand replica of Appa.

"Teaching you a lesson!" Zuko barked and he swung his fist, sending a stream of fire at the sand sculpture completely destroying it.

Aang looked up and saw the girl with auburn red hair standing on the ledge from where Zuko had leapt down from. She had her arms over her head and appeared to be stretching lightly from side to side.

“Tsai!” Aang yelled for help. “Zuko’s gone mad!”

He jumped away from the beach and up in a rock continuing higher and higher until he stood before the girl.

“Tsai!” He said reaching for her and hid behind her as if she could shield him from the Fire Prince’s wrath. “Zuko’s gone crazy!” He said fearfully. It was then that a glimmer caught his eye. He looked down and saw the knife on her hand. “He’s not the only one.” He saw the smallest of smirks curl on her lip.

She slashed quickly turning around and Aang ducked just in time his eyes wide in surprise. He ran back towards the house as fast as he could both Fire Nationer’s rapidly trailing behind him.

Aang looked over his shoulder heaving as he ran as fast as he could. There was no time to stop and ask questions as panic surged through him. Both of them looked angry as Zuko blasted at his heels. Aang jumped on a rock and then to a palm tree clinging dearly to it. Zuko ran up the rock and flipped jumping off it hitting the ground with a roll and setting the palm on fire. Aang clung to his life as he looked down and saw the girl violently shaking the palm. Aang dove off the palm tree and landed on the roof of the beach house. Without wasting another second Zuko scaled to the roof using the side of the beach house with acrobatic proficiency hot on Aang’s tail.

She looked at the hard task and the corner of her eye twitched slightly. No way in hell she was going up there like that. ‘Yeah… I’m using the stairs.’Huffing she turned and sprinted inside of the house.

Meanwhile on the roof-

"Get a grip before I blast you off this roof!" Aang snapped angrily standing his ground defensively.

"Go ahead and do it!" Zuko snarled in response before thrusting his fist forward, bending a large jet of flames before leaping and kicking another blast at Aang, who twisted away and slid down the sloped crimson roof.

Aang slipped down and went inside a window to a storage room. He panted softly catching his breath as he hid behind a wood dresser. It was then that the roof collapsed as a blast of fire and Zuko fell through landing amongst the broken wood, debris and ceiling titles. He took a guarded stance as he eyed the room carefully seeking for any sign of the Avatar.

Aang stood up slowly and with a quick whirl kicked the wooden dresser towards Zuko sprinting out of the room. Zuko’s fists broke through the dressed destroying it in one firey motion and continued in his pursuit.

Aang ran to the end of the hallway but stopped when a flash of red turned around the corner stopping him in his tracks. He looked in between the two Fire Nationers. He was trapped. Behind him Zuko bend massive arcs of fire creating an infernal tunnel of flames that engulfed the hallway and would soon reach Aang.

He looked forward Tsai coming at him with a knife, his eyes wide with horror as he looked over his shoulder and saw the surging flames. They engulfed him on all sides. Leaping he twisted midair and bending air he extinguished the fire beneath him safely landing.

Aang bared his teeth looking between the two Fire Nationers.

“Enough!” He roared angrily as he created a wind tunnel which smothered all the flames in the room. Zuko yelled in surprise as he was blasted down the corridor and out in a powerful gust of air that shot him through the walls and out crashing against a tree landing on the ground with a painful thud.

Tsai managed to duck just in time stabbing the knife on the wooden floor managing to cling to the ground as the violent air whooshed past her. Aang was distracted looking at the gaping hole in the wall that he didn’t see her attack coming.

“Gotcha!” She pounced on him wrapping an arm around his neck roughly holding the butter knife to his face. He looked at her with a slight scowl his eyes a blend of irritation and confusion.

“What is wrong with the two of you?!” Aang said removing her arm from his body angrily. She shrugged a little and instead placed it on his shoulder as they walked towards the end of the hallway. She combed down her messy hair with her other hand. “We wanted to teach you a lesson,” she said sternly. “You shouldn’t be slacking off.”

They reached the balcony and looked down at Zuko who had landed on a bush and was rubbing the back of his head. She waved at him with a sheepish smile on her face.

‘Of course, she’d caught him.’

"What's wrong with you two?!" Katara yelled as she came around the house, the rest of the group tailing before her as they all stopped before the prince and looked up at the balcony. “You could’ve hurt Aang!”

Aang and Tsai leapt down the balcony one of them landing more gracefully than the other.

“Wrong with us?” Zuko shouted back throwing his hands to the side. “What’s wrong with you?! How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin’s Comet is three days away!”

They all starred at him blankly.

“Wait- you guys don’t know?” Tsai stepped forward stepping next to Zuko. Everybody was looking at them as if they were lunatics.

“So the comet’s coming. Big deal.” Mecha shrugged crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why are you all looking at us like if we’ve gone crazy?"

"Uh..." Aang sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he stepped forward, "About Sozin's Comet...I was actually gonna wait to fight the Fire Lord until afterit came."

"After?" Tsai stepped forward looking at him in shock. That terrifying vision still replaying continuously in the back of her mind. This explained why Aang had been slacking off so much. What did he think he could just waltz into the Mainland whenever he wanted knock on the Fire Dad’s door and take him down?

"I'm not ready." Aang explained, he glanced at the ground with an insecure look on his face... "I need more time to master firebending."

"And frankly, your earthbending could still use some work too." Toph added with a small shrug and she crossed her arms.

Aang winced and looked away mournfully.

"So... You all knew that Aang was going to wait?" Zuko asked slowly as looked at the others in disbelief.

“How come I didn’t know?” Tsai held the back of her neck. “We discussed it before the eclipse.” Her brother answered with a casual shrug. ‘Even he knew?!’

"Honestly Zuko, if Aang tries to fight the Fire Lord right now, he's gonna lose." Sokka commented then looked over at Aang apologetically, "No offense."

Katara stepped forward before Aang could answer, "The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the Comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the War." She shrugged and looked at the others before her gaze settled on the scarred prince, "But they pretty much won the War when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse."

Oh, how wrong they were.

"You're wrong." Zuko replied flatly. He closed his eyes and turned away from them. "It's about to get worse than you can even imagine."

He proceeded to explain everything he had said to Tsai earlier that they before they decided to teach Aang a lesson.

"I can't believe this." Katara collapsed. Knees growing weak at the horrible realization.

"I always knew that the Fire Lord was a bad guy," Sokka muttered as he wrapped his arm around Suki's bringing her close in a comforting gesture. "But his plan is just pure evil."

Suki shook her head sadly.

“Why do you all think I have been acting like a nut about mine and Aang’s trainings?” Tsai sighed crossing her arms over her chest. “I…” She hesitated in whether she should share the following information with the rest of the group. “The dragons showed me a vision when we were in the Sun Warrior Island. It’s about the day of Sozin’s comet. I saw so much destruction, fire, raining ash- I get this sickening feeling every time I even think about it.” It was almost apocalyptic.

“What am I gonna do?" Aang grabbed his head in distress.

Zuko stood up walking over to Aang. "I know you're scared. And I know you're not ready to save the world." He stopped in front of him. "But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the comet comes, there won't be a world to save anymore."

"Why didn't you tell me about your dad's crazy plan sooner?" Aang screeched. “And why didn’t you tell me about your vision?” He demanded.

Aang began pacing nervously both of his hands clenching as knots of stress began to form on his back.

"I didn't think I had to. I assumed that you were still going to fight him before the comet." Zuko replied defensively and he put a hand on his chest and flung the other out to the side. "How were we supposed to know you were going to wait?” The girl called out to him.

"This is bad." Aang muttered as he rubbed his temples as stress and despair began to cloud his consciousness. Aang was there, but not really there. He shook his head and groaned. "This is really, really bad." He collapsed to his knees.

"Aang," Katara said as approached him. "You don't need to do this alone,” You don’t need to this alone.

"Yeah," Toph chipped in with a cocky smirk, walking up to stand next to Katara while the rest of the crew followed behind. "If we all fight the Fire Lord together, we got a shot at taking him down."

“And don’t forget you’ve got something the Fire Lord doesn’t have!” Tsai said animatedly her characteristic optimism coming through.

“What? Something worth fighting for?” Zuko scoffed humorously from behind. His father didn’t need a good reason to destroy an entire civilization. “No,” she shot him a quick glance. “Us!” She said confidently with a cheesy grin.

"Alright! Team Avatar is back!" Sokka cheered pumping a fist up in the air. He pointed at Aang “Air!” then at his sister “Water!” He said confidently. “Earth!” He said turning to Toph. “Fire!” He motioned to Zuko and Mecha.

“Fan, spirit and sword!” He shouted triumphantly. Sokka said picking up a leaf that resembled a blade and handing Suki one that looked like a fan.

“Spirit?Really? I don’t get a prop?” Tsai eyed Sokka with the edge of her lips twitching into a grimace.

Sokka’s leaf sword wilted with his determined expression. Aang turned to look at his friends with a rare serious expression on his face. "Fighting the Fire Lord won't be easy, it's gonna be the hardest thing we've ever done together." He smiled at them, "But I wouldn't want to do it any other way." He said with a small smile.

The group all cheered and came together in a group hug. The Fire Nationers standing idly a couple of feet away from the group glancing awkwardly.

Katara glanced over at them and smiled, "Get over here guys. Being part of the group also means being part of group hugs!"

The Fire Nationers smiled at each other slightly before welcoming in the group hug. Even Appa joined in!

“So, how are we going to do this?” Sokka clapped his hands after the jovial embrace.

“You have to catch him by surprise!” Tsai explained raising her hand. They all chuckled lightly. “What?” She said confused. “I hit him once.” She admitted.

“You what?”Her brother asked with his eyes wide. Everybody’s faces seemed to reflect his surprise. “He tried to set me on fire. I had to do something. So, I used my head.”

“I see,” Sokka scratched his chin. “You stood by the fire waiting for him to lower his guard and then attacked with an elaborate strategy.”

“No,” She deadpanned. “I usedmy head. I headbutted into him.” She rubbed the top of her head remembering the slight pain.

“She’s being modest. She broke his nose.” Zuko said with what sounded like pride in his voice before dropping an arm around her shoulders.

Everybody gawked at the two Fire Nationers beyond confused. It was awkward enough that he seemed proud that she landed a strike on his evil father’s face. Talk about weird dynamics.

“Is this how you two flirt?” Her brother asked just as confused pointing a finger between the two of them.

“I’m just glad you two finally made up.” Sokka let out an exhale. “Now we can double date!” Suki said with an eager smile.

However, this was not the time for that…

“There is one technique you need to know before facing my father...” Zuko stated. Moments later he was teaching Aang how to redirect lightning. Something Tsai’s scarred brother also sat in for. Maybe an individual can survive getting hit by lightning once? But twice?

Xxx

Later that day after a long day of strenuous training the group sat for dinner in the center courtyard. They all sat together mindlessly chattering while eating with scattered conversation. Aang sat a distance away not very hungry poking at his food with his back to his friends.

“I have a surprise for everyone!” Katara rushed in from the corridor holding a rolled-up scroll in her hands. She grinned eagerly as she stood before the group.

"I knew it!" Toph exclaimed as she stopped eating her rice, "You did have a secret thing with Haru!"

Everybody turned to give Toph an odd look.

"Uh...no..." Katara said, giving Toph an equally strange look before waving the scroll she had. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic, and I found this!" She unraveled the scroll, revealing a painting of a happy baby with a small ponytail playing in the beach’s sand. "Look at baby Zuko! Isn't he cute?" Katara cooed gushing.

Everyone but Zuko laughed at portrait. Tsai stood up taking the scroll from Katara to get a better look at it. Suki leaned over her shoulder also looking at the portrait with a smile. “Awe!” Suki coed.

“You are so cute!” Tsai said touching Zuko’s arm. However, his arms remained crossed as he appeared to be deep in thought a stoic expression on his face despite the compliment.

"Oh lighten up, we’re just teasing." Katara said to him.

Zuko opened his eyes and gave her an irritated look, "That's not me. It's my father."

Everybody fell silent. Suki cringed and Tsai grimaced as she rolled the scroll up giving Zuko a nervously apologetic look.

"But he looks so sweet and innocent." Suki murmured as she gestured towards the scroll and turned her attention to Zuko.

"Yeah, well that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster." Zuko scoffed and put his own dish down losing his appetite. He rested his arm on his bent knee, "And the worst father in the history of fathers."

Tsai placed a hand on his knees giving him a sad look.

"But he's still a human being." Aang interrupted turning to face the group from the distance. Everybody turned to look in his direction. “You’re going to defend him?” Zuko asked sharply.

Aang abandoned his plate and approached his friends. "I agree with you, Zuko. Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person and the world will probably be better off without him. But there has to be another way."

"Like what?" Zuko scoffed.

"I don't know." Aang replied with a shrug. His expression brightened and he raised his hands up as if he was holding a bowl. "Maybe we can make some big pots of glue and then I can use gluebending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore."

"Yeah." Zuko replied with sarcastic cheer, "Then you can show him all his baby pictures, and all those happy memories will make him good again."

Suki and Sokka sniggered behind Zuko.

"Do you really think that would work?" Aang oblivious to Zuko’s sarcasm asked his voice filled with hope.

"No!"

Aang hung his head and sighed hopelessly. “What if I do it?” Everybody turned back to look at the scarred young man from the colonies in surprise. Tsai couldn’t help but facepalm sometimes she really wanted to hit her brother. “Are you nuts? You’re notthe Avatar. That’s hisdestiny not yoursMecha.”

“I wouldn’t mind- really.” He added darkly.

His sister was about to protest and call him out on his plan for vengeance when Aang interrupted. “Enough lives have been lost. It shouldn’t be this way.”

“But Aang ending this life will save thousands-maybe millions of other lives.” The girl from the colonies tried to reason with him. “How can you measure the worth of one life with all the other ones that could be spared?”

"This goes against everything the monks taught me. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like." Aang paced nervously in front of the group, his shadow following after him illuminated by the small oil lamp above the courtyard.

"Sure, you can. You’re the Avatar." Sokka stated matter-of-factly dismissing all of Aang’s concerns. “If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm sure pretty sure the universe will forgive you." He added casually.

"This isn't a joke, Sokka!" Aang snapped in uncharacteristic anger as he whirled around to glare at him. "None of you don't understand the position that I'm in!"

"Aang, we do understand." Katara began in a compassionate attempt to soothe the boy, "It's just-"

"Just what, Katara?!" Aang demanded rudely. "What?!" He roared raising his voice.

"Then when you figure out a way for me to beat the Fire Lord without taking away his life, I’d love to hear it!” Aang threw his hands up in the air in frustration as the stress of the approaching date of Sozin’s Comet consumed him before angrily stomping away.

"Don't walk away from this, Aang!" Katara chased after him with a strained tone. When a hand’s grip held her back. She turned and saw Zuko standing behind her.

"Let him go." He advised and he let his hand fall from her shoulder, "He needs time to sort it out by himself."

Tsai looked in concern at Aang’s retreating figure from the distance. Her own stress building up tensing her body knotting her back as thoughts of an infernal sky and raining ash clouded her consciousness….

Xxx

Aang sat on the third floor’s western balcony meditating on his choice. Before him he had placed four lit candles, some water, citrus fruits and nuts as an offering to the spirits to guide and bring wisdom to him.

He sat on a meditating pose the only sound he could hear were the tugging and pulling waves of the ocean. Momo quietly sleeping next to him.

When a voice pulled him from his meditation.

“Hey, I love mandarins.”

Aang snapped his eyes open and glared. “Don’t touch those Tsai! It’s an offering for the spirits.” He said irritated. The girl was already peeling the skin of her midnight snack.

“Well, lucky you, I am a spirit and I accept your offering.” She smiled at him softly before walking and leaning on the balcony’s railing. He noticed she was wearing a simple loose-fitting sleeping shirt and the pair of maroon brown shorts she usually wore underneath her everyday Fire Nation robes.

“If you’ve come to persuade me to take the Fire Lord’s life, save your breath. I’m not changing my mind.” He said seriously with a light scowl on his features. She popped a mandarin slice in her mouth and let out a weak laugh. “I know that. That’s not why I’m here.”

He looked at her oddly. A feeble smile on her features. “I think there’s another way… I’ll help you Aang.” She looked at him gently.

He looked at her confused. “How?” He asked with a deflating hopeless breath his shoulders dropping at his sides. “Dunno,” she said with a light shrug. She looked away avoiding his probing gaze. Aang had a feeling she knew more than what she was letting on. “I can walk through fire. That’s got to count for something.”

xxx

Tsai walked back to the guest room she was sharing with Suki, Katara and Toph. She was about to enter the room but stopped in the hallway. A dim light coming from underneath another one of the bedroom door’s in the hallway caught her attention. It was Zuko’s bedroom.

Zuko heard a light knock on his door. His eyes looked up from the parchment on which he was writing on it and saw the door slide open.

He turned and saw Tsai standing underneath the door frame. There was a rare gloom clouding her expression.

“Can… Can I stay with you tonight?” She asked bashfully almost meekly.

“S-Sure.” He stammered pushing away the parchment and brush away from him. He hated himself for stammering and turned away hoping she wouldn’t notice his flustered expression.

He had never slept alonein the same room with a girl that wasn’t his sister. Maybe they had shared many nights together, but his Uncle Iroh or someone, anybody else was always there in between them as a buffer. For some reason it seemed like such a vulnerable act to him. Truly surrounding your consciousness to lay alongside another person. It was scary…

“Okay” She chirped with a small smiled and walked towards the large bed slipping underneath the covers turning on her side. “Goodnight.”

For some….

Feeling frustrated Zuko fought the urge to slam his head against the desk he was currently using. His adolescent concerns overshadowing his juvenile thoughts and emotions. ‘What would Uncle do? What would he say?’ He thought to himself and then grimaced when he actually gave that statement some thought. Never mind that he said shaking his head thinking of the lost advice he once whispered to him in Ba Sing Se.

He turned off the candle that lit the room and carefully slid into the bed next to her. Careful not to make too much noise or move too much. He lay stiffly with his arms at his sides and turned to look at the back of her red head in the darkness. Turning on his side he mindlessly reached for a strand of it toying with the wavy lock between his fingers.

He called her name softly.

“Hm?” She mumbled sleepily.

He was quiet. She could feel him still twirling a strand of hair in his hand. She rolled over slowly and looked at him. Both now face to face. The sounds of waves echoing in the distance.

“Tsai… I…” He was at loss of words. When she raised a hand to his lips gently silencing him. “Don’t say it.” She hushed heavy-eyed with a slight smile on her face. He didn’t even realize he was smiling back. He felt strange, soft inside, warm. It was a novel feeling he welcomed. His hand reached for her fingers.

She threw an arm around him holding him close, nuzzling against his shoulder an arm wrapping around her bringing her in close. “Come here my little fire ferret.�� She said in a teasing tone.

“Ugh. Please do notcall me that…” He grumbled in protest. She couldn’t help but laugh a little at his response. “My… tiger monkey?” She said playfully. “If I’m a tiger monkey then you’re a koala sheep.”

“A koala sheep?” She asked almost incredulously raising an eyebrow at him. “What? They’re cute and cuddly,” he shrugged.

“You think I’m cute and cuddly?” She continued the painful tease slowly inching closer to his face. He turned away slightly embarrassed. “Let’s just be us.” She said placing one last kiss on his face.

He agreed.

“Goodnight.”

Xxx

Later in the undisturbed night…

The deep-toned hypnotic chanting of voices of men seemed to resound from the ocean nearby. The chanting was low almost like a hum. It rumbled.

Aang awoke from his sleep and sat up in the balcony where he had unintentionally fallen asleep. A cloud of slumber lingered over his tired features. Slowly, almost as if in a trance. He rose to his feet and walked towards the balcony rail and down to the beach without looking back.

Downstairs a sleeping spirit was also disturbed…

xxx

Sunburn Chapter

M A S T E R L I S T

NEXT https://gloves94.tumblr.com/post/623235644322447360/sunburn-prince-zuko-37 PREV https://gloves94.tumblr.com/post/622676261578342400/sunburn-prince-zuko-35

xxx

AN: Realistically speaking only 2 more chapters to go... 👀👀👀

#prince zuko #zukoxreader #Zuko x oc #Zuko x you #zuko #avatar #avatar the last airbender #avatar fanfic #avatar x oc #avatar fanfiction #atla #atla fanfic #atla zuko #aang #sokka #katara #wattpad #ao3

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kariachi · 7 years ago

Text

Oh look, more commission work! This time a daemon au rewrite of the Static Shock two-parter ‘A League of Their Own’, as purchased by @thenixkat. And holy shit is it a long one.

“Batman, Raven, how goes the security check?” Turning away from Hawkgirl, Raven huffed, rearranging her wings and hunching over on her perch.

“All six levels of the stasis field are intact,” Batman answered, carefully ignoring his daemon. There was no reason to risk getting her ranting now when he’d be hearing all about how she hated that name and would rather be Batcrow for the millionth time later anyway.

“Thank fuck.”

“Onthar!” Fur on end, the alien daemon hopped up onto the control panel beside Batman’s, tails wrapping around himself as he stared passed Hawkgirl at the chunk of hardware floating in a tube in the middle of the room. There was something ominous about the Brainiac symbol emblazoned on it.

“It creeps me out,” he continued, as if his other half hadn’t said anything, “having them here.” Hawkgirl hummed agreement as she reached out to stroke him.

“Better here, where we can keep them contained, then out in the galaxy.” Still she followed his gaze. It creeped her out too, creeped all of them out. Even Batman, if what Onthar said Raven said was true. “How much of them do you think is in there?”

“Too much.” The other hero rose out of his chair like there weren’t joints to move beneath the cape, his daemon stepping off the back of the chair and onto his shoulder as he did. “Brainiac is a regenerative program, and while we can’t be sure his daemon is as well we have to assume the worst. Both intelligent viruses that will never die.” He spared them a glance before turning his attention back to the mass of circuits and steel. “There’s wisdom in the saying ‘keep your enemies close’, but there are times I wouldn’t mind sending Brainiac down the nearest black hole.”

“Well, it would certainly save us the room.”

“Onthar!”

Any argument that may have come up was averted by a series of high, squeaking barks followed quickly by the Watchtower’s alarm system blaring. Within seconds Flash and Flicker were darting through the room.

“Need everyone in the control room, we’ve got a problem!”

“What going on?”

“You tell us-”

“The sensors are going haywire, but we haven’t been able to spot anything.” Man and daemon were both checking everything they could think of, from close and long range scanners to all the cameras, at speeds all but nobody could reach. So fast that it was only moments until

“There!” The video feeds suddenly stop changing as Hawkgirl pointed at one of the displays, Onthar’s eyes going wide at the shimmering line in the void headed their way.

“Shields up, Flick, now!” The prairie dog was a blur as she followed orders, darting about the appropriate panel before tucking herself in Riezen’s tentacled grip as Hawkgirl’s explanation rang out.

“Cosmic super string, they pack more energy than a solar flare! Brace for collision!”

Sound advice. Unlike a solar flare this string packed a serious punch, rattling the Watchtower as it passed over it. The humans and Hawkgirl were knocked to the ground, Flash and Flicker hissing as the force of the impact threw them to the edges of their bond. Onthar was only just able to catch one of Hawkgirl’s feathers in his teeth, keeping them close enough for her to drag him into her arms, and Raven launched herself into the air with a squawk of alarm, landing by the side of hers as soon as it was safe to, whistling concern and nuzzling his cheek. The control panels sparked and flashed, thuds and thunks could be heard from inside. The only things seemingly unaffected were Riezen, suctioned to the control panel and with Flicker still tightly grasped, and J’onn, who had put his intangibility to good use.

“Our energy core is drained,” he said once everything stopped shaking, he and his daemon both immediately going to work checking the systems. They and everyone else politely ignored Flash and Flicker coming back together in a blur.

“What about the back-up?” Batman asked. Unlike Flash and Hawkgirl, who continued to hold Onthar close to her as she flew up to check the reserves, he didn’t reach out for his daemon, but those observant enough would have noticed a tilt to his head in her direction. A silent reassurance in light of her worries.

“We have some reserves left,” Hawkgirl said, “but not much.”

“Definitely not enough to power the whole of the station,” Onthar continued, “we’ll have to stick to the important stuff until we recharge.”

“That may want to be now.” Riezen moved forwards and tapped a tentacle against the forwards display. “Our orbit is decaying.”

“The super string knocked us off course.” J’onn looked back at the rest of them, “We’re heading for the stratosphere, and it would take all our reserve power and more to move back into position.” Concern shot across Flash’s face and he shot forward, Flicker still clasped in his arms.

“If we run around the power core at super speed, we could generate enough static electricity-”

“No,” Batman said, “you could damage the core. But I do know somebody who could get us out of this, if we can reach him in time.” He stepped up to the control panel, pressing buttons until news feed of a young teen, clearly a super, came up on the screen.

Raven whistled her approval.

Meanwhile, back in the Brainiac Containment Room, a program suddenly found itself with a little more room to stretch it’s metaphorical legs. And, brushing it’s consciousness across it’s more infamous companion’s, it did so with relish.

On the security monitor, a flashing series of letters- F A I L U R E- stopped, vanished, and were replaced.

Systems Operational.

“We’re fucked.”

“Jolt, I swear to God-”

Technically there were villains talking, but they weren’t actually listening. It was the normal posturing, it happened every time, the only information you could gain was names and motivations, which they already knew. So instead, while Puff and Hotstreak talked shit, Static, Gear, and their daemons were focusing on the important things. Things such as how they were already sore, were thankful the fourth pair of the team wasn’t anybody more threatening than Carmen Dillo and Noel, and how to not give Cam the satisfaction of being right about dying.

“So, bro,” Gear said, as Hotstreak asserted their invincibility while he and Puff’s daemons circled the lot like vultures, “who do we go for first?”

“The police.” Puff seemed to take pleasure in their concern- which was well deserved given the heroes were vastly outnumbered by people who could do some serious damage, and Noel- given the smile on her face as she stepped forward.

“Ladies first.” She formed an orb of gas between her hands, pulled back to throw and-

And was blown back by a sudden red twister that slowed to reveal the proud figures of the Flash and Flicker.

“You know something sweetie, you’ve got an odor problem.”

Flicker’s quiet, admonishing “Flash” went mostly unnoticed under Puff’s furious cry. Slipping easily into her more gaseous state she rose to join Gust in the air, the coati giving a squeaky, grunting warcry as he swung low to lob his own attack at the heroes. Flash wasted no time though, spinning his arm to create a vortex that flung the attack, the daemon, and the young woman over the heads of their team and straight into the side of the brick building beyond, much to the other villains’ concern. Surprisingly Carmen was the first to react, turning to the heroes with a snarl on his face for just a moment before suddenly curling in on himself, just in time to be shielded from Hawkgirl coming in from the side. One swing of her mace sent him flying into Onyx and the both of them crashing into the brickwork mere feet from Puff, the sound of falling rubble serving to cover Jet’s cry of pain as her bond with Onyx was stretched and she scuttled for him at top speed, wedging herself under his arm as far as she could. Carmen unrolled across the larger Bang Baby’s back with a groan and a distinctly displeased look as his daemon bounded for him with a shriek and began to frantically inspect him for major harm.

“If I knew Static was friends with the Justice League,” he said, “I wouldn’t have joined you boneheads. Not even to do laundry.” Hotstreak, through all this, actually managed to seem worried about the situation, though that didn’t last long. About as long as it took for Stella to land heavily on his shoulder, wings and crest already spread and flaming even before he lit up himself. An intimidating scene, and one cut very short by the newly arrived Batman with the help of a grenade canister of extinguishing foam.

All in all, a very short fight. Maybe a minute and a half.

“Yo, how come you never told us you were down with these big dogs?” Gear and Socket both had their mouths gaping with shock, the wolf’s ears pressed back.

“Cause, it’s, a secret,” Jolt haltingly replied, she and Static carrying a very similar look themselves.

“So secret even we didn’t know… Yo, Batman,” Slowly Static and Jolt landed as the renowned hero approached them, “thanks for the help but, don’t you guys have a galaxy to save or something?” It just, didn’t make sense why the Justice League would send some of their to people to come, what? Help a few newbies put away some comparatively minor crooks?

“We need your help, Static, Jolt.” Okay, now things made even less sense. Static could practically feel the fur on the back of Jolt’s neck trying to stick up and could taste electricity jumping between her ears and fake antlers.

“Say what?” This had to be a joke of some sort. Batman didn’t do jokes, but, surely there was a first time for everything.

“We need you to come to the Watchtower.”

“The Watchtower? Up there?” He still was struggling to believe it, pointing as he spoke- “That one?” This wasn’t a joke was it? The Justice League needed his help and wanted him to come to the Watchtower. He could feel a grin begin splitting his face and Jolt started making a high-pitched, excited noise at his side.

“Ooo ooo! Can we come too?!” Gear looked just as hyped as he came down to join them on the ground, and Socket was too excited to both with a slow descent, instead thudding down to the asphalt with his tail going a mile a minute.

“Can we please? Please?!”

“This isn’t a field trip,” Hawkgirl noted, walking over with Onthar and looking at Gear and Socket like, well, like they were overly excited teenagers. Which managed to curb their enthusiasm for about three-quarters of a second before they started back up.

“Please, oh please!”

“You can stuff us in the stowaway bin!”

“And when we get up there, we’ll stand in a corner!”

“You can pick which one!” By which point Gear was halfway to puppy-eyes and Socket had reached maximum puppy-eye, lying on his belly with his tail wagging and staring up at Onthar like he was God. The older daemon laughed.

“Alright, alright, you can come.” The look Hawkgirl shot him was unimpressed at best, but like any pair they had a lifetime of practice ignoring each other’s disapproval and he was downright smug when Batman stepped in.

“Come on, we need to move fast,” he said, and with a friendly croak from Raven on top of it, well, that was that.

“Cooool…” It was a quartet of voices, all with the exact same degree of awe. Static and Gear both looked like they couldn’t wait to get their hands on, well, everything. Jolt scrambled her way up Socket’s side to get a better view of it all. It was just, amazing. They’d all thought about it, had their pipe dreams about getting to come up to the League’s Watchtower, but they’d never actually expected to ever see inside. It was as amazing as they’d imagined.

“We’ve made it to geek heaven,” Gear said, reaching out to stroke Socket’s ear as they crossed the doorway, all four beelining for the various control panels and monitors. “Look! It’s some sort’ve multiphasic monitoring system! I’ll bet it can pick up any broadcast signal on Earth!” As soon as he began to rub his hands together Jolt was up on Socket’s head, forepaws on the control panel as they inspected it. This, unfortunately, left her in the perfect position to the surprised by J’onn rising up out of the panel, Riezen chuckling from where they’d gone unnoticed by the monitors as she tumbled back down the wolf daemon’s side, landing on her feet in a mess of sparks.

“I’ve got the power conduits all set for Static, I’ll see you in the control room.” And just like he’d came the Martian was gone, his daemon rolling down to the floor and making their way with surprising speed across the room. It was a sight to behold- no matter how many times you saw them on TV, you just were never prepared to watch the love child of an octopus, a nautilus, and a slug make their way passed your feet.

“Okay… I still don’t understand,” Static said, shaking his head to clear out the strange image, “what’s going on?”

“We were hit by a cosmic anomaly, it drained the Watchtower’s central powercore,” Batman explained as he and Hawkgirl lead them after Riezen, “we need you to recharge it for us.”

“Recharge the station?”

“Us?”

“Don’t you guys have jumper cables?” They were honored of course, but, really? This was Batman speaking, shouldn’t he have had back-up generators in place? That weren’t teenagers?

J’onn was waiting for them in the main control room, his daemon perched on his shoulder.

“These conduits lead straight to the power core at the center of the Watchtower,” he said, “here’s where you can feed in your energy.” All in all the whole thing was, surprisingly underwhelming, now that they had a ‘why’.

“Some grand adventure,” Static muttered. Jolt didn’t even bother with muttering.

“Do I look like the Energizer Bunny to you people?” Static had too much of her in him to flinch like Gear and Socket did, but it still was nice to hear Raven immediately start chuckling. Supposedly she wasn’t the talkative sort, but at least she had a sense of humor. Batman, on the other hand…

“One way to look at is,” he said in a tone of voice they recognized from their parents and occasionally Sharon and Asher, “you’re preventing the station from crashing down somewhere on Earth. Quite possibly Dakota.” Well, when he put it that way. Static pulled down his goggles and Jolt hopped up to wedge herself into the space available.

“We’ll just get on charging the station, huh?”

“Good idea.”

It wasn’t the most entertaining job around, how’s that? All Static and Jolt were doing was expending as many calories as possible in the most boring way possible while Gear and Socket hung out in a corner specially chosen by Hawkgirl. There was the brief ‘excitement’ of finally reaching enough power to re-establish the satellite’s orbit, which went by with minimal fanfare, but for the most part nothing happened until Gear chose the worst time to try to get a photo. Before he could even make a real attempt he was in mid-air, surrounded by a green glow while Socket stood at alert below him, hackles raised as he glared at the brindled dog beside Green Lantern.

“Easy, GL.” Flash and Flicker quickly came to the rescue, Flash going to Green Lantern’s side while Flicker took position between the canine daemons. “Sparky’s buddy.” Gear was spared a Look before he was placed down gently and his camera returned to him, though Lauretta continued to give Socket a hard stare for several seconds before following after her human with a blunt

“No pictures.”

“Alright Static,” Batman said, clearly unfazed by what had gone down, to nobody’s surprise, “now that Green Lantern’s back, he can take it from here.”

“Good,” Static said, notably tired as he backed away, his gloves smoking, “I feel like a grilled patty.” Jolt didn’t even manage that much, just to slide out of the section of wall with a groan and shuffle her way after her other half. Gear and Socket automatically rose to meet them, the wolf loping forward to nuzzle Jolt.

“Come on, small fry.” She halfheartedly kicked at him, but then quickly let him stick his head under her belly so she draped across his neck.

“We don’t have to go yet, do we?” Gear said when he reached Static’s side. “So far I’ve only seen one corner of the room!” They certainly hoped not, the electrical pair was exhausted and hungry. Which didn’t even make sense for Jolt, she was a daemon, the didn’t even need to eat! But she was starving just as much as Static was, which only made her more aggravated when a blaring alarm began assaulting her poor ears.

“It’s Nivelus II,” Hawkgirl said, attention fully on the monitor in front of her, “there’s an asteroid swarm heading for their planet.”

“That would take all of us to deal with,” Riezen added as the League members grouped together around Hawkgirl. Flash frowned.

“Well, there goes our afternoon.” The younger set of heroes all looked at each other. There were a lot of things they were prepared to deal with, fighting crime in Dakota pretty much required flexibility, but asteroid swarms were not on their resumes. Hawkgirl seemed to realize this.

“What about them?” she asked.

“The Watchtower isn’t fully recharged, they’ll have to stay here, just in case.” For the first time since their meeting she didn’t look annoyed, instead she was visibly concerned as she watched Batman walk away with Raven pecking at one of the ears of his cowl.

“Alone?” That was anything but a problem for them, the idea of being alone in the Watchtower was enough to perk even Jolt up, and the fact the rest of the Justice League seemed cool with it only helped.

“As long as they don’t touch anything, they should be fine.”

“Yeah, you guys are old enough to stay home by yourselves, right?” The teens’ faces split into grins.

“Right!”

“Definitely!” Hawkgirl didn’t look convinced, and in fact neither did some of the daemons, but they didn’t push any further. Instead Onthar crossed some of the distance between the groups and leveled them with a firm look.

“The cafeteria is down the hall, fourth door on the right,” he said, just before Lauretta came up behind him.

“Don’t touch anything, behave yourselves, and stay safe.” The boys nodded vigorously, and Socket did his best equivalent to a salute.

“Yes ma’am!”

“The cheap stuff, I cannot believe-”

“You’ve been whining about this for thirty minutes.”

“It’s not even bad.”

“That’s not the point, the point is that nobody who owns their own satellite should have a freezer full of cheap pizza. They did this to spite us.” There were groans all around.

“They did not do this to spite us.”

“No, they clearly did.” Richie shook his head, tearing into his pizza only a hair more ravenously than his friends as Virgil dropped his face into his hands and Abe continued the ongoing argument.

“Cam, Sharon, where did they even get the attitude, man?” Not even bothering to look up, Virgil raised a finger knowingly.

“Gran.”

“Ahh.” He took another large bite. “Ya know, I hope the League doesn’t mind us raiding the fridge.” Virgil chuckled, dropping his feet down off the table- just barely missing Abe, likely on instinct alone- and grabbing up his plate.

“Hey, we’re growing superheroes,” he said as he headed for the sink, “and Cam and I just spent every calorie we’ve ever earned charging up this place.”

“We have earned this pizza,” the jackrabbit added, her own slice jealously guarded from the menfolk- she knew Richie and Abe, “even if it is cheap.”

“You really need to-” Virgil went quiet, freezing as the screen in front of him wavered, showing something that almost had looked like some sort’ve face…. He turned back to the others. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Richie was fully engrossed in his pizza, and Abe was just as bad. Well, at least his daemon had been paying attention, her ears straight up and back tense.

“There was a face looking at us, on the screen. It didn’t look human.” Richie and Abe scoffed in unison.

“Big deal. We just spent the day with a Martian and a Thanagarian.”

At which point more alarms started going.

Immediately Richie’s feet were off the table and his hand was in Abe’s fur, while Cam catapulted herself into Virgil’s arms.

“This cannot be good.” And it wasn’t. Within heartbeats of the alarm starting the outer door began to open, leading directly into the dark vacuum of space. The only good news was that the chairs and table were bolted to the floor, meaning that when things began to be sucked out into space Virgil and Richie could latch onto the nearest seats and Abe could hook himself around the table’s leg. The biggest risk was to Cam, clenched tight against Virgil’s chest with one arm while he tried to keep them from flying off with the other. She did the first thing that came to mind, trying to use her powers to force the doors to shut again, only to fail. Richie nearly lost his grip and Abe, in response, began to whine.

“Cam, get the cabinets!” Ears perking at Virgil’s request, she quickly found the ones he was talking about and took aim, electricity arcing between her ears and antlers. A burst of power had the screws coming free, leaving the cabinet to be dragged across the room and, being taller than the door, block it enough to lessen the pull of the vacuum. As soon as the force wasn’t enough to drag them away the quartet leapt to their feet and bolted for the door, Virgil and Richie clamping their daemons between themselves and the walls for their own safety. But this door wouldn’t shut either, no matter how many times Virgil slammed on the appropriate button.

“One sec, we can maybe override the controls!” Immediately BacPac was on the job, plugging into a nearby control panel, and not a second too soon as the cabinet finally gave way. The shutting of the doors, and with them the arrival of safety, finally, came with a mass of relieved groans.

“Ya know,” Virgil said, slumping against the wall, “I think I’ve lost my appetite.” Richie nodded.

“Yeah, me too.”

“For now,” Abe scoffed, and the others couldn’t help a tiny, relieved chuckle.

“Yeah, for now.”

“I’m not sure this is a good idea, we don’t wanna make the J League mad.” Gear paused in his typing to look at Static and Jolt. “You saw how Hawknose swung that mace!”

“I think she’ll live.” Socket’s voice had had a distinct growl to it ever since they’d escaped the cafeteria and he now was pacing back and forth between the others and the door like, well, a caged wolf. They’d set up shop in the nearest room with access to the Tower’s systems, with no care as to actual purpose, hoping to find information.

“All I want,” Static said, Jolt back in his arms again, “is to know why this place almost killed us.”

“First, they use us as battery power, then the cheap pizza, now this- I’m lodging a formal complaint.”

“You do that, Small Fry.” Somehow the quartet managed to become tenser when the door opened, something that didn’t go away when all that entered was a robot pushing a vacuum cleaner. If anything, that seemed to make Socket more aggravated, in true canine fashion, and Jolt even growled when it grew a brush and started trying to clean off her and Static.

“Relax Jolt, it’s just a cleaning bot,” he said, stroking her, even when she scoffed.

“You act like we weren’t just almost killed by a pair of malicious doors.”

“They weren’t malicious, just suspicious.”

“Six of one, half dozen of the other, look.” Everyone turned to Richie and the screen in front of him, letting the robot putter halfway out the door unnoticed. “The stations firewalls are expanding. Like something’s taken over and locking everybody else out.” Pointedly ignoring the quiet “yay, the station is evil” from his personal peanut gallery, Static eyed the displays on view.

“Can you isolate whatever it is?” With hardly a nod Gear went to work, typing away as Static and Jolt watched on. Meanwhile, Socket returned to his pacing, taking note of the robot that hadn’t quite left. Especially the way it seemed to deactivate as the firewall display became smaller.

“It’s slippery, but I think I’ve got it. The League files have it ID’d, a virus called… Brainiac?” A green face, vaguely familiar, appeared on the screen.

“That’s the face from the cafeteria!” Static clutched his daemon tighter. “But what’s it doing in the League’s system?”

“Correction. Our system. I’ve been growing exponentially ever since we sent the Justice League away.” If the words hadn’t been creepy and ominous enough on their own, the monotone in which they were spoken would easily have done the job. A computer putting words together, that was all. Instinctively Gear tried to reach out for Socket.

“What?”

“I summoned them away with a false distress call. When you are disposed of, the last human infestation will be gone from the Watchtower, then I will-”

There was what could only be called a roar behind them.

Static and Gear spun on their heels, eyes blowing wide at the sight of the robot from before flailing, the brush replaced with a buzzsaw of all things. Socket was latched onto that arm, snarling and using the powers granted him by his Settled form- bone-crushing teeth and the stamina to hold onto an elk until it gave up- to keep it away from the rest of the team. They could only watch the events unfold, unable to help for fear of catching Socket in the crossfire, nobody breathing until with one final swing the wolf was lobbed across the room. Socket hit the opposing wall with a yipe in the same instant Gear collapsed to the ground, breath knocked out of him by the twang of distance across their bond. Not a snap, but still further apart than they should ever have been.

“Socket!” Brainiac watched impassively as Gear rose enough to launch himself towards his daemon and Jolt leapt to the floor to face the threat head-on with Static.

“Be quick, Del.”

“Of course.” Somehow the voice from the robot was worse, like Brainiac’s but, vaguely distorted. Nobody noticed Brainiac’s face phase out, Static and Jolt focused entirely on the fight. Namely, in blasting the cleaning-bot into three separate pieces. It was surprisingly easy, just one combined hit to the less-than-nimble machine had done it, but then the voice had tutted at them from the room’s speakers and a panel had opened, releasing a number of ambulatory cables that would’ve caught them up had they both not been sparking like ball lightning out of pure worry and protectiveness. Really they’d felt about ready to take on the world alone, they may have had to with their partners temporarily unavailable, but alas they weren’t quite that good. Another panel had opened in the floor and up had risen another, larger, more clearly offensive robot. A solid blast knocked it back and into the wall, but it just got right back up like nothing had happened at all. So, they’d gone directly to Plan B.

Drag Gear and Socket to their feet and run like Hell was on their heels. Which it seemed to be, with the voices echoing through the halls.

“There is nothing you can do.”

“And no point in trying to hide.”

“Control room? Maybe we can get a distress call out?”

“As good a bet as any!”

Sudden static broke the silence of the ship’s cockpit (well, the near silence of the ship’s cockpit, but everyone was politely ignoring Raven, Flicker, and Onthar’s gossiping). It was difficult to make out, a weak and bumpy signal that sounded like Gear right up until a boost from Green Lantern’s ring proved it to be the teen. Worried and with his daemon half in his lap.

“Distress call fake! Repeat- distress call faked! Brainiac loose in-” with a bark Socket vaulted Gear’s lap and disappeared off screen, followed closely by the boy as his eyes went wide calling “Static! Volt, look out!”

The message cut out there.

For the briefest of moments the ship was silent, reeking of dread, concern, horror, before nine spines stiffened as one. Without a word they banked towards home, every face grimly serious, Riezen flashing warning colors, fur and feathers both on end.

“If they’ve hurt so much as a single hair on those children I will flush them down a black hole myself!”

“The launch bays aren’t responding, we can’t get in.” Such simple words, yet the tension in the ship bumped up several levels at the speaking of them. It bumped up several more levels when Brainiac showed himself in a flashy light show on the outside of the base. Thirty-two minutes, it had taken them thirty-two minutes to get back (less than it should have, but really, what was frying the engines if it meant they could save the kids and defeat Brainiac?) How has he gotten this much control so quickly? How long had he been in control? How much had he taken over already when they left?

Could they have prevented this?

Hawkgirl and Onthar had been in their spacesuits for fifteen minutes, and as soon as Brainiac showed his face they, Green Lantern, and Lauretta undid their seatbelts and headed for the exit. Not that there was much they could do, immediately the Watchtowers outer defenses were turned on them and the ship, but at least they had to try.

“I can’t connect to any of the systems inside,” Batman said, not showing the same worry they knew he felt from the way Raven loomed on his shoulder, “Brainiac has completely cut us off. But maybe I can still reach Static and Gear.” Precious seconds passed.

“Static, Gear, come in, what is your situation?”

…

“Static, Gear?”

“Let’s just say there’s room for improvement!”

They were caught. Or, well, Static and Gear were caught. Socket and Jolt were trying to get them free, but it was hard when the robot slowly squeezing your people to death was that many times your size and kept trying to step on you. Mostly what it meant was they were dodging while Jolt occasionally blasted the thing and Socket tried to figure out if he could disable it. Unfortunately, they were starting to get annoying.

“It’s time to get rid of you pests,” the robot- Del, Brainiac had called it Del- said, clamping down harder on the boys. For a moment it looked like Jolt was going to start launching herself headfirst at it out of desperation- nothing she did was stopping it and if she hit any harder she might hurt her own- before Socket snatched her up in his teeth and out of the way of a foot.

“Found it,” he whispered, “distraction, now!” And well, what else was she to do but listen? In two bounds she’d scrambled her way onto Del’s head, sparking and bouncing and refusing to be shaken off. She caught brief glimpses of Socket, the browns, greys, teals of his disguise and costume, but couldn’t get a solid look until he leapt away from the thing and howled for her. She kicked off it’s head and landed beside him, swearing to herself she’d later take a moment to worry about the golden Dust drifting from his claws and teeth, and turned to see a discarded panel and an expanse of freshly uninsulated wiring. The pair grinned together.

“Fry it.”

And in a flash of arcing electricity she did.

The machine collapsed, clamping hands reflexively opening and shutting, dropping their boys to the floor where the two daemons rushed to them. In a flurry of limbs they got to their feet and started running, not caring where they went as long as it was away from whatever the viruses decided to throw at them next.

“Batman, you still there?” Rarely were the League so happy to hear someone else’s voice on their lines. Especially since they’d now managed to regain access to the security cameras.

“I’ve located your position, you’re heading straight for the central power core. You need to shut it down.”

“How are we gonna do that?!”

“You need to drain the core this time, and absorb it’s energy.”

“Oh thank fuck, we really could use it back about now!” Batman ignored the young daemon’s comment, and the way Flash, Flicker, and Raven were snickering at it.

“I’ve been jamming our communications so he won’t know our plan, and now the Justice League is going to provide a major distraction. So get going. Over and out.”

“I’m going to assume this is it,” Socket said as they approached a massive door that certainly looked important.

“I hope so,” Virgil said. Removing BacPac from his perch, Gear set him on the wall next to a nearby control panel where he began to force access. And apparently it worked, the doors opened, exposing a massive glass tower surging with electricity. Static and Jolt breathed deep as they approached it, rolling their shoulders. “Keep BacPac plugged in, just in case.”

“Will do.” With a quiet whine, Socket propped himself up on the wall with his forepaws so he could whisper back and forth with his.

“We could-”

“That could work-”

“It would work-”

The conversation went quick, and it had to because before Static and Jolt could get started a pair of cables burst down the hallway, nearly knocking Gear and Socket over, and wrapping the electrical pair tight. A ‘Plan B’ was definitely required as Brainiac reappeared and began to monologue.

“I am everywhere, I am everything, you cannot defeat us-” Who knows for certain whether the virus planned to continue further than that, as that was the point when music started playing through the Tower’s speakers. Villain and heroes alike stopped to level a firm look at the pair in the hall.

“Really, Gear?! Really?!”

“Perfect time!” The supergenius was grinning a toothy one to match his daemon’s. “One song downloaded 100 million times!”

“Let’s see just how good their memory is!”

Not good enough, apparently, as quickly Brainiac began to flicker, words becoming choppy and hard to understand as he lagged and skipped, he and Del losing enough control to release Static and Jolt, who immediately set to work taking back the power they’d put into the satellite in a hail of green sparks.

“N-n-n-n-no! I c-c-c-c-caaaaaaannot be defeated I am B-b-b-b-b-raaaaaiiiiiniac-ac-ac-ac! One d-d-day I will-ill-ill be b-back-”

Too many crises solved for one day, the set soon found themselves back on Earth, out behind their base surrounded by smiling Justice League members.

“You did well, both of you,” which, so far, from Hawkgirl, was some pretty major praise. Still, this was the Justice League. And it was only one little assault by Brainiac.

“All in a day’s work for us superheroes, right?” The League’s looks were fond as J’onn responded to Static.

“Do not make light of your accomplishments, this was a very serious matter.”

“Yeah.” Flash ruffled their hair, or as well as he could given Gear’s helmet, while Flicker rubbed herself against Jolt and Socket’s legs. “You dweebs saved the world today.” Dakota’s Finest shared a relatively long look. They, had not realized it was quite that serious.

“So, when I’m looking for work this summer, can I put that on my resume?” Both teens looked hopeful, though apparently for very different reasons.

“All I want,” Gear said, “is just one picture, just so I can believe this happened in the morning.” Socket, again, immediately busted out the puppy-eyes, and again the League didn’t seem impressed. Until Onthar strolled forward, that is.

“Just be sure to get my good side, kid.”

Virgil and Cam left for home first, to nobody’s surprise. Richie and Abe weren’t terribly fond of home and both tended to get caught up in their own shit. So there was no shock when they were left alone, nor when they took another half hour or so to get their things together. No, that came when a shocked yipe and thud rang through the gas station, Richie spinning away from his computer to see his daemon too still on the pile of blankets he’d claimed his own, their favorite invention downright looming over him.

“Abe? BacPac? What’s wrong?!” Richie took a step forward, brow creased with his concern as BacPac turned to face him.

When the machine pounced, it’s eye glowed a familiar green…

~~~~~

5 Days Later…

~~~~~

“We’re sorry, we don’t know what’s been going on with them.” It was a bit of a relief to see Isaac worried, meant they weren’t the only ones to notice Richie and Abe had been, weird, the past several days.

“Well, they’re up,” Mrs Foley said as she left her son’s room and joined her daemon on the stairs, reaching out to compulsively toy with the wolfdog’s fur. “They’re still acting strange, but they’re up.” She huffed a little laugh. “If Richie’s appetite wasn’t getting worse, I’d be considering calling a professional.” They all forced laughter at that. If nothing else, as long as Richie was eating they could assume the two weren’t dying or something. Even if they’d suddenly stopped going on patrol, and begun spending less and less time at school, and basically were seemingly dropping off the face of the Earth.

There was a reason Virgil and Cam had come over to walk them to school rather than waiting to meet up on the way.

“We’ll see if we can find out what’s up,” Cam said as the young pair headed up the stairs, Virgil offering a warm smile that Mrs Foley returned.

“Thank you, we’d greatly appreciate it. Just…” She trailed off, only to have Isaac pick up the sentence.

“Don’t push them? If you could?” Well, that was an odd request in the circumstances, but they shrugged it off.

“Sure thing.”

“Thank you, Virgil.”

The scene they walked into was almost normal, Richie getting dressed, Abe packing their bookbag, but it wasn’t right. There was no smile when Virgil called Richie’s name, no wagging tail when Cam leapt playfully at Abe. Their expressions were flat and disinterested. Their movements were, off. It was disconcerting.

“Hey, you okay man?” Virgil ran a hand through his locks as he spoke. This wasn’t like them, and he and Cam really were concerned. Richie’s face remained inexpressive.

“Never better.” Even his voice was distant, cold. Like he didn’t want to be there talking to his bestfriend of all people. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, you haven’t been on patrol lately-”

“You missed school yesterday-”

“You sleep in all the time now-”

“And hygiene is suddenly completely lost on you.” As she said it Cam took a knot in Abe’s fur between her teeth and pulled. The wolf didn’t even seem to notice besides looking down at her with a long, slow blink.

“We’ve been, preoccupied,” Richie said.

“With what?” What could they be preoccupied with that would have them skipping school, but not telling Virgil and Cam about it? “You know you can tell us anything.”

“Are you upset, are you sick,” Cam added, placing her forepaws on Abe’s leg, “did you hit your head when Del threw you? We’re your friends, we want to help.”

For a brief moment there was almost emotion in Richie’s face- wide eyes, open mouth, a flash of teeth- before he shut down again. Abe rose smoothly to his feet and shoved the bookbag into his hand, almost herding him out the door without so much as a backwards glance at Virgil and Cam.

“Come along, we’re late.”

Lunch had been disappointing the past few days, especially for Wally- who could easily go through seven or eight meals a day. The last pizza had vanished, nobody had bothered to restock, and so they were stuck with more mediocre fare. More specifically he was stuck with a Lean Cuisine, which really defeated the purpose of his meals, but they were all that was left. The only plus was that Effie didn’t seem to mind, strewn out on her back on the table, chewing away at a noodle and happily meeping as he scratched her belly. It was a charmingly domestic scene that unfortunately wasn’t built to last.

“Flash, Flicker, we have a job for you.” In a blur the food was gone- probably using more calories than they gained back in the process- and they were standing at alert, Flicker sat at Lauretta’s feet for a brief nuzzle.

“What do you need, GL,” Wally said with a smile that Green Lantern returned to a lesser degree.

“Turns out nobody checked Gear’s computer before we took the kids back home, we need you to track him down and scan it. He plugged it into the systems a lot while Brainiac had control and we want to make sure he didn’t spread in there.” He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Flash. “Batman got a picture off the security cameras.”

“Huh,” Flash said as he gave it a look, kneeling so Flicker could also see the image of two teens and their daemons stuffing their faces at the table they’d just left, “that solves the case of the missing pizza.” Rising again with a grin, he saluted. “We’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail!”

Really it wasn’t all that difficult to find Gear and Socket. There were a lot of people in Dakota, but they had super speed on their side and it wasn’t as if there were a lot of people with wolves out there. All they’d need to do was check every short-haired blond with a wolf by their side that they saw, which was an incredibly short list. Sure there was the brief flirting detour- which earned Flash a nip on the calf from his daemon- but in the end it took them less than half an hour to find a blond with a wolf, and while said daemon was stark white instead of Socket’s browns and greys the face on the human matched perfectly. Or, well, mostly perfectly.

“Gear, we’ve been looking all over for you!”

“What do you want?” The expressions were distant, Gear’s face a little long, Socket’s steps a little too even, and the tone of the young hero’s voice…

“Gee, nice to see you too.” Flicker skirted around to Flash’s other side as he spoke, away from the wolf and the homemade scooter. “Slow down, I need to see that computer of yours.”

One quick, sharp glance their way and Gear turned to pull off into the nearest alley, Socket coming up behind him and just, stopping. No slowing. They both looked at the older hero pair with cold expressions far from the puppy-like excitement of just days before.

“What for?” The whole situation was putting off bad vibes, but Flicker and Flash pushed through with welcoming smiles. These weren’t bad kids, maybe they were just having a rough day. Socket certainly didn’t seem in the best shape, and it didn’t look like Gear had bothered to shave. Best to continue being their friendly selves.

“We just need to look at it,” Flicker said. “Check and make sure there’s no bits of Brainiac hiding out in there.” The kids shared a look before Gear responded.

“We don’t have it with us.”

“Then we’ll go get it,” Flash responded, smile growing wider, “fastest pair alive, remember?” The fact it took time for Gear to respond, that he almost looked like he might be eyeing them, was worrying, but finally he and his turned to leave the alley.

“Follow us.”

“Who do you think would lose their minds first, Raven or Lauretta?”

“I think that’d be about tied.” Flash kicked a soda can towards a corner. “So, computer?”

“BacPac is around here somewhere…” The fact his tone was still that of neutral disinterest remained creepy, but the boy was looking around. Flash chuckled at him as Flicker settled in next to a stationary Socket.

“You should get a utility belt, Batman can always find everything.” The prairie dog laughed.

“Yeah, you boys should’ve seen, one time he-” With a squeak she was cut off as suddenly large jaws clamped around her middle, a sound only overshadowed by Flash’s shout of alarm as he was also trapped in the sudden grasp of a machine. Immediately both went into flight mode, Flicker trembling as hard as she could manage with sharp canine teeth digging into her sides as Flash spun and dashed about the room.

“Get this thing off!” he cried as he slammed into tire racks, desks, cabinets, walls, anything to try to shake BacPac loose. Nothing worked. Flicker stayed trapped and Flash’s attempted were ended with a cable suddenly binding itself around his legs. His daemon gave a high-pitched whine as he collapsed against a table. “Get me out of this!”

It looked, for a second, like there might be hope. Emotion came to Gear’s face, fear and concern, and he opened his mouth only for vicious teeth to snap and his eyes to flash yellow before that cold look fell back over him. He and Socket’s eyes both began to glow green as he loomed over Flash.

“There is no way out, Flash. No one escapes from Brainiac.”

“Holy shit...”

“Either they threw one hell of a party without us or an earthquake hit.”

Richie and Abe had disappeared at lunch, again. It was getting old, and even more worrying, but they were still trying to hold out hope, had crossed their fingers that they would find them here at the base this time. But no, all there was was a massive mess. Broken furniture, debris strewn about, it looked like a tornado had gone through, and for all Virgil’s quips both of their immediate thoughts were that their security, little that it was, had been breached. Worse, that Richie and Abe might have been there at the time.

“Richie? Abe?”

“You guys here?”

“No.” Both teens jumped, immediately glad they’d changed before coming here as they lit up with sparks and took a defensive stance. “Easy, Sparky, we’re on your side.” The sight of the Caped Crusader didn’t really help much, they were not in the mood for, pretty much anything really, but Raven’s friendly whistle and the whirling yip Onthar gave as more of the League followed the hero into the building did.

“Batman,” Static sighed, “we didn’t expect to be seeing you guys again so soon. If you came for the party, I’m thinking it’s over.” It was clear from the looks on their faces the visit wasn’t nearly that social.

“Your friends are missing,” Hawkgirl said, “and so are ours.”

“Flash and Flicker came down here a few hours ago,” Green Lantern continued, “to take a look at Gear’s computer. We haven’t heard from him since.”

“It’s very suspicious.”

“Wait.” Jolt stepped forward cautiously, ears swiveling. Logically there wouldn’t be any enemies here while the League was, just there was still plenty of jackrabbit to her. “What would they want with BacPac?”

“We wanted to be sure Brainiac didn’t stowaway in it during his takeover of the Tower,” Riezen said. “It was supposed to be a quick scan, maybe a wipe if he had, nothing that would take so long.”

“And now they’re both missing…” Static didn’t like where this was going, and from the sparks starting to come off Jolt’s ears neither did she. If Brainiac had stowed away in BacPac then- He shook his head. “Hold up, let me try to get ahold of Gear. He’s been kidnapped before, the two could be unrelated.” He pulled out his shockvox, waving it slightly for the League to see with a proud smile. They were mostly unimpressed, though Onthar did pretend and who could really tell with Raven’s cowl.

“Call him, Static,” Jolt said and he nodded.

“Yeah.”

It took too long for Gear to respond, long enough to set them on edge, and when he did respond he, he didn’t sound right.

“What is it, Static?” The annoyance was actually an improvement on what they’d been dealing with, but something wasn’t- they could understand, but the words clearly weren’t forming right.

“The Justice League’s here and they need to see BacPac. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We’re at the abandoned steelmill, working on a special project, you should come see.” Static shared a discomforted look with Jolt, and then shot it at the League.

“Focus Gear. League? Here? They need to look at BacPac.”

“BacPac is with me. Come meet us here, all of you.” There were a lot of instincts battling in Static at that. On the one hand, he was worried about his friend and wanted to make certain Gear and Socket were alright. On the other, he’d been a hero long enough and read enough comic books to know this couldn’t end well. One look at Jolt made it clear she, unsurprisingly, felt the same. But when he looked to Batman, a silent plea for advice, the more experienced hero nodded.

“Okay. We’ll be right over.”

The steel mill was eerily dark but not dusty, like someone had gone through the trouble of wiping everything down, but not the trouble of getting the electricity turned back on. What was even more odd was that Static and Jolt could taste the electricity in the walls even as Green Lantern and Lauretta lit the way. Why would they be working in a dark building? Why clean it so thoroughly but not bother to turn on the lights? The questions and the green glow left the walk through the mill feeling ominous, each glowing piece of scrap metal and strange shadow raising the tension until, by the time they entered the main work floor, Static was done.

“Okay, somebody needs to flip a switch,” he said, sending a bolt of electricity through the nearest light fixture and immediately wishing he hadn’t. As the lights came on they revealed massive amounts of towering machinery, fancier than anything he’d ever seen Gear build before and with none of the little flairs Socket insisted on including. Like somebody had taken the control rooms and shipyards of their favorite scifi series and combined them into a working whole. His stomach twisted.

“We are fucked, we are fucked, we are fucked,” Jolt muttered, paranoia thriving under the view as she pressed herself against his leg.

“There’s no way a high schooler made this,” Lauretta said, a growl to her words. They could almost feel everybody’s hackles raise. Even Batman sounded tense as he gave the group a “Stay alert”, Raven tense on his shoulders.

“Hey guys.” It was a surprise nobody jumped when Flash blurred onto the scene, all smiles and with his daemon a few heartbeats behind. “Miss me?”

“Where have you been?” Green Lantern was the first to move forward, followed closely by Onthar. Attention would’ve shown the daemons’ focuses differing from their people’s.

“With Richie and his computer.” Jolt shoved against Static’s legs with all her strength, which wasn’t much, but enough to get him shuffling backwards. He hissed a quick “What’s wrong?” down to her, but she didn’t respond, merely continued to stare towards-

“Flick?” Onthar was the first of the daemons to openly speak, inching closer to his friend. “Are you alright?” Now that they looked, she didn’t seem to be. She was there and whole, no Dust drifting away, but her eyes were, almost like she was dead. “Flicker?”

Flash grinned, eyes glowing green, and in a blur everything seemed to stop. Static couldn’t see, or hear, or feel. It was like he’d suddenly found himself in a mass of cotton. Isolated in himself. The moment was brief, but when the ‘cotton’ fell away he still found himself disoriented.

“What just happened?” he asked aloud and was filled with dread when the only answer was a quiet groan from Jolt as she shook her head clear. The League was just, standing there around them, the heroes like statues even as he waved a hand in front of Batman to get a reaction, their daemons dead eyed, like zombies.

“I don’t like this, Virg…” Nodding slowly, he scooped her up into his arms, eyes never leaving the adults.

“I gotta agree, Cammy…”

“Static.” The familiar voices- and that just made it worse, the plural- made the stones in their stomachs grow heavier as they spun to see figures come out of the shadows that couldn’t have been- Those were Richie’s clothes, and the white paws were familiar, but it couldn’t be them. “Your natural electrical field short-circuited my mind-control disks.” Jolt accepted the connection and made the jump first, power arcing between her ears and antlers as she leapt back down to the floor with a growl.

“Brainiac.”

The figures stepped into the light and any hope that may have been left vanished. The daemon was clearly Abraham, the wolf’s white fur a unique trait in Dakota that made him identifiable even with the steel paneling that had taken up large portions of his body and the ominous green glow of his eyes. Richie though, if it hadn’t been for the clothes, the wolf, the fact they’d known him since second grade, they wouldn’t have recognized him. The same paneling covered most of his face, but what was left included a muzzle of all things, short though it was, and a thick mass of fur, that still weren’t as scary as the glowy eyes were.

“Richie!”

“Abe!”

“What did you do to them?!” They continued to come forward, as Static joined his daemon in sparking.

“Your friends are completely under our control.” Richie’s voice was no longer there, replaced entirely by Brainiac’s, and it only served to make them spark more.

“I thought we wiped you out!”

“You delayed the inevitable,” Del, in Abe’s body, said, “we still intend to digitize the information on this planet, and then destroy it.”

They were so close, this close, to attacking. To destroying the pair once and for all for threatening their home, invading their friends. But, they couldn’t. It didn’t look it but this was Richie, this was Abe, their friends, and innocent victims in this. They couldn’t fight them. They couldn’t.

“Richie, Abe, guys you’ve got to fight this!” It all made sense now, the sudden change, the impassivity, and those brief flashes of almost something.

“You’ve been trying, haven’t you? You can do it, we know you can!” And for a glorious moment they could, their eyes clearing- Abe’s to his normal grey and Richie’s to a vibrant yellow. Whimpering, Abe forced a step forward, uttering a single “Cammy” before Del brought him back to heel with a sharp whine, settling back into position as if nothing had happened.

“Virgil-” Richie fared better, managing to drop his face into clawed hands. “Con-control. Control! Control!” Static grinned, even as Jolt pressed herself against him. This was where their hopes lay.

“That’s it Richie!”

“You can do it!”

“C-Con-” There was a visible struggle as Brainiac wrested for control, hope blossoming into horror as Richie suddenly struck out, driving teeth as large and sharp as Abe’s into his own shoulder. It was a terrible sight, him tearing a chunk out of his own flesh, but it seemed to work. He managed to turn back to them, mouth ringed and filled with blood, and growl out “-ote! Control! Get!” before the virus drove him back.

“Brainiac?” Del spared it’s partner a glance as he returned to position, expression as neutral as ever, eyes glowing their evil green.

“It is under control,” he said, then pointed at the young heroes. “Justice League, destroy them.”

Never before had Static and Jolt been so clearly man and soul as when the Justice League turned and began to close in on them, eyes widening in unison as they backed away, matching step for step.

“Who, us? Hold on guys, we don’t wanna have to hurt you,” Virgil quipped, slipping a hand behind his back when they gave no indication of having so much as heard him.

“Guess it sounded as lame to them as it did to me.”

“Hush you.” They stepped back onto the freshly dropped Static Saucer as one, flying up in a trail of sparks and just avoiding Flash. A strong blast took out one of the building’s skylights, giving them a path to freedom, or at least to more space to maneuver. Unfortunately taking to the air wasn’t enough to avoid members of the League and Hawkgirl was quickly on their tail, Onthar draped dully around her shoulders like a weird mink.

“Do you have a license for that mace?”

“Static!”

“Listen, I’ll stop quipping-” He took a sharp dive just as Jolt leapt skywards and grinned when Hawkgirl followed him, leaving her open to an attack from his daemon right on that control disc. While the hero stopped and regained her bearings, he was swinging back up to catch Jolt. “-when you stop being a pessimist.”

“What happened,” Hawkgirl asked, raising a hand to touch Onthar as he groaned back to the land of the living.

“No time,” Jolt answered, “we can short out the control discs on you guys. Help us get the rest?” The older pair looked down, where the rest of the League team was gathering. Onthar hissed.

“Of course.”

With a nod the pairs dove into the fray. Hawkgirl beelined for Batman, knocking away batarangs with her mace until they were close enough for Jolt to leap into view, shocking his control disc like she had Hawkgirl’s before, a maneuver that brought them close enough for Onthar to pounce on Flicker, drawing out an instinctive protectiveness that distracted Flash enough for Static to strike. But of course it couldn’t remain that simple. J’onn and Green Lantern were next, both capable of flight and more than up to the job of chasing as Static and Hawkgirl scooped their daemons back up and rose higher and higher.

“J’onn and Riezen can handle Green Lantern with ease,” Hawkgirl said, swooping under Static to avoid a blast of energy, “but we need to get them first.” Easier said than done. They didn’t doubt they could do it, just a solid shock like the rest since he couldn’t go intangible without dropping his daemon to their deaths, but they couldn’t get a clear shot with Green Lantern alongside him…

“See if you can get Lauretta to stay in place,” Jolt said, “tether them!” Hawkgirl and Onthar shared a look, then a nod, and dropped away. They didn’t bother to watch and see what they tried, instead making a sharp turn and dive, hoping to get cover between them and Green Lantern. Between the pairs the plan seemed to work, the blasts of energy stopped coming and soon it was just them and J’onn.

Now it was easy. Static hit the brakes and put out a sparking hand and the Martian practically ran right into them. J’onn shook his head clear as Riezen’s color returned.

“Static…”

“We need your help,” by now Jolt was all sparks all the time, “we need to get Green Lantern contained so we can free him from Brainiac’s control.” J’onn nodded, and Riezen flashed a series of deep colors.

“Leave that,” the mollusk daemon said, “to me.”

It was actually surprisingly easy. The rest of the League’s daemons had piled onto Lauretta, who didn’t have enough mind to her in the moment to shake them off, which left Green Lantern safely stuck close to the ground. All Static and Jolt had needed to do was distract him for the four or five seconds it took for Riezen to get close to his fellow daemon and use his own mental powers to lull her to sleep. They’d been left staring as their hero collapsed into J’onn and Hawkgirl’s arms.

“Do you guys do housecalls?”

Once everyone was back together, safe, sane, and awake, the group found themselves on top of a warehouse near the steel mill. It seemed the best place to regroup, and keep an eye on the enemy.

“While I was under Brainiac’s mindcontrol,” J’onn said, Riezen curled along the hollow of this throat, all the daemons were sticking extra close right not, “I tried to make telepathic contact with Gear. All I could hear was one word, ‘control’, being repeated over and over.”

“That’s what he said to us too,” Static said, “he must be trying to tell us something. Like how to stop Brainiac.”

“He said ‘control’,” Jolt added, “and ‘get’, and something else that was hard to make out.”

“That’s not exactly a lot to go on,” Hawkgirl said, and they both had to admit she was right. But…

“It’s better than nothing.” It was, they just needed to figure out what he was trying to say, but the League gave them a hard look.

“Meanwhile,” Batman said, in a tone that implied it wasn’t really a ‘meanwhile’ at all, “we need to stop Brainiac at all costs.” Raven tugged at his cowl with a hiss and Jolt came forward.

“Except Richie and Abe,” she said, in a ‘that is final’ tone she learned from Mr Hawkin’s Emily. Green Lantern met her step for step, regret in his eye.

“We’ll do everything we can, but-” Jolt stomped her foot, sparking.

“Except. Richie. And. A-”

The steel mill exploded. First the windows burst out in a flash of flame, then the building itself collapsed to reveal a mass of metal. A ship, with trailing tentacles, rising up out of the rubble. It was in the shape of Brainiac’s head. They could all only watch as it rose up, up, and the eyes began to glow a green that would probably never stop sickening them, releasing a beam in which two of the other warehouses simply vanished.

“See what we mean, kids?” Lauretta said. “This is bigger than one pair.”

This was, something else. The Big Bang had been a disaster, but at least it had been- at least you’d known it had happened. You could look around Dakota and see evidence of it, go to the docks and there was still scars. With this, with this everything was just, gone. Vanished like it’d never even been there. Before they’d needed to figure out how to stop Brainiac, how to save their friends and the world, but as the speedsters ran to survey the damage as it happened and Batman called on the Javelin the need became frantic.

“Come on, Cam, we’re smart, we can figure this! It had an ‘o’!”

“And ‘o’ and something, a ‘t’ maybe? God, Abe will never let us live this down…”

“It’s Richie’s fault for growing a muzzle when we needed to understand him. ‘O’, ‘t’, ‘o’, ote-” Light bulb. “Remote!” Jolt just about jumped out of her skin where they were knelt, paying no mind to Flash and Flicker’s return, twisting in the air in relief.

“‘Get the remote control’, of course, we’re morons!”

“I blame videogames.” Virgil leapt to his feet with a grin, turning to the League as they headed onto their ship. “Guys! Guys, we figured it out! We know how to stop Brainiac!” Which, if nothing else, got their attention.

“How,” Batman asked, and they could’ve sworn Raven was beaming from his shoulder, which only encouraged them.

“If Brainiac’s based in BacPac, then if we get his remote control we can shut him- and Brainiac- down!”

“We need to go back to our base, it’s probably there!” The League shared a look among themselves, though not a disapproving one, and Green Lantern stepped forward.

“It’s a better plan than we’ve got,” he said and Batman nodded alongside him.

“Flash, Flicker, go find the remote-”

“It’ll be white, all sleek and shit, green buttons.”

“-you two, get in the ship.”

The view wasn’t any better from the air. There didn’t really appear to be any rhyme or reason to the order in which Brainiac was digitizing things- unless maybe he had a phone book and was doing it alphabetically- which meant that there were just, empty spaces where things had once stood. Blank spots in the city that screamed Wrong to them as they passed. Static kept a tight grip on BacPac’s remote, his arm secure around Jolt as she huddled in his lap. Both were making themselves watch. They were heroes, this was their city, they had to.

“I’m thinking,” Lauretta said, “the eyes are probably the weak spot.” Flash and Flicker scoffed as one.

“Maybe if they blink, right now they don’t look too inviting.” The dog daemon and hers gave them a look, and Green Lantern’s grip tightened on the controls.

“Hold on.” Just about everybody on the ship stopped breathing at that point, because the most courageous man on Earth flew them directly into one of the digitizing beams. He and Lauretta put up a ring-powered shield around them as the ship faded away, but that didn’t help all that much given how clearly they were struggling to keep it up. All in all, there ended up being hardly enough time for a “Brace for impact” from Hawkgirl before they were colliding with one of the ship’s eyes, crashing through and landing in a pile of debris inside.

“Lauretta, sweetie,” Flicker said as they all gathered their bearings, “next time you two have a plan, warn us first, please-thank.” Batman and Raven were, of course, the first to be right as rain, immediately taking charge.

“We need to find the control room,” he said and almost before he was done Flash and Flicker were off, leaving the rest of them to all sigh in that ‘why do we love them’ way everyone is familiar with and follow behind. They were fast, but not all that difficult to find, especially when they got blasted out of a room towards the end of a hallway.

“So?” Flash nodded as he got back to his feet, the rest of the group crowding around him.

“Control room.” And apparently either Brainiac or Del was inside, because as he said it robots in Brainiac’s image began to, form out of the walls? It was strange and some of them were getting stuck and Static couldn’t help giggling, knowing when he heard Jolt do so as well they were picturing the same thing.

Ebon stuck in a wall.

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Static,” Batman said, grabbing his arm just long enough to tug him towards the door. “Come on!” With the other watching their backs, and Raven swooping down on any robot who got too close with sharp claws and vicious warcroaks, Batman blasted their way inside.

The boys weren’t there. Instead there were two massive robots, one humanoid wearing BacPac, clearly Brainiac from that ugly-ass face, and one a mass of tentacles and arms, likely Del. They stood on a platform on the opposite end of the room, a screen before them displaying the chaos they were wrecking on Dakota. Before the quartet could act, the pair turned to them, eyes glowing, and tentacle cables reached down for them from the ceiling. Static, Batman, and Jolt were easily caught, the tentacles snatching the remote from Static’s hands and passing it off to Brainiac. Raven avoided the assault, but the distance between her partner and the robots was too great for it to be of us.

“Foolish humans, you are in our house now.” Static and Jolt both snarled as they struggled, the daemon’s ears swiveling frantically.

“Where’s Richie and Abe?!” Please be alright, please be alright-

“With us.”

“They see everything, know everything.” As the robots spoke, they opened, revealing familiar forms strapped inside. Both were barely conscious, Richie was still a mass of fur and his own blood, but they were alive.

“Richie,” Static called out, “shut him down! Hit the remote!” And he tried, baring sharp teeth with a groan and attempting to swipe his claws in the right direction, but it was to no avail. He went limp again with a whine that Abe mirrored.

“Unfortunately for you,” Brainiac said, closing himself back up, “he can do nothing. No one can. Especially after I destroy this.” He raised the remote and Static took his chance. Small target, no time to aim, just instinct, skill, and electricity’s tendency to head for other sources. Fingers crossed…

It was a direct hit.

A surge went through the remote and immediately the control panel began to spark and flash, as did the robots’ eyes. It was a mess of light and energy, the tentacles dropping their captives to the floor just before everything final stopped and Brainiac and Del, stiff as mannequins, fell.

Virgil and Cam didn’t wait, as soon as the robots started to go they were on their feet and running forward, the League close behind. They didn’t really notice what was going on with them, just that Flash suddenly passed Virgil by, making quick work of the mass of metal that had been Brainiac while the daemons and J’onn ripped into Del. The boy and jackrabbit were practically latched to their friends’ sides as soon as they were revealed, out cold, reeking of ozone, but alive. There was a whirring noise and unintelligible babbling as Hawkgirl lifted Richie free, the fur and muzzle already beginning to fade away, and Batman began shedding his cape to make a sling for Abe.

“Brainiac is rebooting,” he said, “we have to act fast.”

“We’ll take it from here!” J’onn was already tearing up chunks of metal. Green Lantern and Lauretta beginning to blast away. “You get the children out!”

And so they did, those that could fly hauling those that could not and leaving the four to do as much damage as they could before escaping, allowing the ship to crash and explode in the bay.

Richie was awake, bandaged, and not covered in fur, laying on his back on a table they’d set up in the gas station with J’onn’s hands on either side of his head. Abe was in a similar position, from a canine perspective, laid beside the bed where Richie could reach him, Riezen’s tentacles on his shoulders and hips. The main difference between the two being that while Virgil was hovering a few feet away to avoid touching anybody’s daemons, Cam had set herself up right by Abe’s side and spent every moment she could grooming him with the help of Onthar.

“I sense nothing of Brainiac within him, Richie should be fine.”

“And Abe as well.”

“Well thank fuck.” Rolling his eyes at his daemon, though he agreed with every syllable, Virgil grinned.

“Hey, while you’re in there, can you tell me where he left my Lil’ Romeo cd?” J’onn smiled back.

“It seems he gave it back to you last month.”

“Hah!” Richie said, grinning back as he rolled himself off the table, “told ya!” He dropped to the floor immediately, pulling Abe’s head into his lap- forcing Cam to move on to the wolf’s hind leg- and turning to look towards the other side of the room. “What about BacPac?”

“We’re running one final check,” Hawkgirl said, “just to be sure Brainiac is out of his system.”

“You’ll have to reprogram your robot, but he should be okay.” Richie chewed his lip as Batman said it, toying with one of Abe’s ears as he whined and buried his head against his belly.

“Listen, um, I wanted to thank everyone for saving us.” Abe fidgeted.

“We’re not sure what to say…”

“Hey, it’s nothing less than you would’ve done for us, right?” Flash grinned as well, and Flicker squeaked an agreement from under his arm.

“We’re very proud of you, you know.” All four teens jumped at those first words any of them had ever heard out of Raven. The crow hopped over to join them as Batman came closer, starting in on preening the younger daemons. “All of you. Over the last week you’ve proven yourselves to be brave, strong, smart, and loyal.”

“Yeah,” Green Lantern chimed in, “for rookies you’ve done well. But we can tell, you’re gonna be handfuls when you join the League.” Static and Richie perked at the words, eyes going wide. Their daemons were a little too preoccupied with the fact Raven was still talking (“Really, taking down Brainiac and Del twice, at your ages, you did very good-”) to do the same, but their ears swiveled in the right direction.

“I’m sorry, when we join the league?” Virgil was grinning like a cat in the milk jar and Richie like a fox in a chicken coop. The adults chuckled, and Flash clapped Static on the shoulder while Batman handed BacPac back to his rightful owner.

“Anything is possible. When you’re older.”

“And of course we’ll be replacing Richie’s shirts so don’t you worry about that-” Closing his eyes, Batman sighed.

“Are you finished, Raven?” His daemon gave him the side eye before flying back to her spot on his shoulder to tug on his cowl.

“No, I am not,” she said, then turned back to the children as Abe and Cam took their places between their boys, “if you kids need anything, anything at all, you let us know. Alright?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Definitely.” Batman sighed again and shook his head before smiling at the quartet.

“Goodbye, and be careful,” he said, then turned to follow his team out and away like nothing had even happened. The building fell quiet, the young heroes basking in their relief, their hero worship, hopes for the future. Camilla was the one to break the silence.

“So,” she said, “I think we may have been adopted by The Raven.” Abe nodded, and Virgil and Richie shared a look over their heads. With a smile and a chuckle, Virgil shrugged.

“Well, weirder things have happened lately.”

#fanfic #static shock #daemon au #richie foley #virgil hawkins #brainiac #half the justice league i ain't tagging all their asses here #also richie is a werewolf because nix likes those #you don't have to like the story but i spent four days and nix spent too much money on it so you dan well better read it #commisionwork #achi does commissionwork

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