Pt 6
by Dan Swanson and Starsky_Hutch76
It was mid-morning on a bright Saturday as three costumed figures sat at a picnic table on the infield of a small stadium a few miles outside of Gotham City The trio looked with intense interest the apparatus and gear spread across the field. There was a pool, weight-lifting apparatus, a Paris Island-like obstacle course, a Worldwide Wrangling-style steel cage, and an obsolete World War II tank, among a very interesting assortment of other stuff.
“So, after all the hoops we jumped here to get her, when do we get to show our stuff?” The impatient speaker was a tall black girl dressed in an extremely revealing maroon monokini, thigh high matching maroon leather boots with spike heels, with a bright gold cape and domino mask. Part of what made her such a striking figure was that she was totally bald.
“Patience, young lady,” replied the Red Tornado, who wasn’t quite as tall as the younger woman, but was significantly wider and more imposing, in her red, yellow and green costume and iron helmet. “Yes, my young friends DO like to make an entrance - but they WILL be on time.” She muttered "Or else," softly enough that the other three might have thought she didn't mean for them to overhear. They would have been wrong.
The scoreboard digital clock clicked over from 9:58 to 9:59 AM. Tornado continued in her regular voice: “Me, I’m always early. In any case, I see them now.”
She pointed, and approaching the stadium, the four could see a blonde girl, dressed in pink and purple, surrounded in a pale pinkish purple glow, flying toward the stadium. Behind her, she had generated a purple disk on which stood two others, a masked man dressed in black and yellow with a swirling cape, and a redheaded woman wearing a cyan swimsuit with pink gloves and boots. They landed at precisely 9:59:45, and as the disk vanished, they stepped up next to the Red Tornado, who began a formal speech.
"Ahem!" Ma Hunkle cleared her throat loudly. "I'd like to formally welcome you three applicants to this edition of the Jr. Justice Society of America open tryouts. While you will be initially reviewed by these three members, …Batwing, Coral and Star Sapphire… your auditions are being recorded from multiple angles with a host of advanced instruments, and your performances will be discussed and dissected and analyzed and critiqued by the whole team, including me, their adviser, before any decisions are made." Batwing bowed, Coral waved, and Star Sapphire curtsied as their names were called.
After the Tornado finished speaking, the 3 heroes stepped forward and shook hands with each contestant, who so far had decided not to talk. As Coral and Sapphire took seats behind small tables, each equipped with writing materials, cameras, and a computer terminal, Batwing remained standing and took over the spiel. "The tryout format will be simple - self-introductions, tell us a little about yourselves and then a demo of your powers. You can make use of any of the apparatus, equipment and other stuff spread out around us. If you need anything else, please speak to the Red Tornado and she'll get you what you need. If you need something she can't get, you'll just have to improvise. Hopefully, we have what you need to demonstrate your powers."
"Excuse me," the male applicant asked hesitantly. "The best way for me to demonstrate my powers is in a fight. Is that OK?"
"You betcha!" Coral spoke up before even Batwing could answer. "It's been a boring day so far - I could use a little excitement!"
"So, five minutes to look over the apparatus or talk to the Tornado, and then we'll get started." Batwing clicked a button on his Bat-watch.
The three wandered around the grounds for a few minutes. The scantily dressed woman walked over to Red Tornado and spoke with her for a minute, then she nodded.
"OK. Showtime!" Batwing announced. "Your order has been randomly assigned. Please introduce yourself after I say your name, tell us a bit about what you can do, and then show off.
Batwing looked over the 3 waiting applicants, and his interest perked up immediately. The guy was dressed in a rather boring generic masked hero outfit, skin-tight red tights, red and gray shirt with a yellow lightning emblem, and a red mask. He needed some costume fashion tips, Jason decided. He looked rather like a Flash - hopefully he realized that Whiz Kid made strict super-speed redundant, and had something else to offer. He barely noticed the short woman; his attention was drawn fully to the taller, bald girl in the scanty outfit and he literally had to force himself to turn his eyes away, as the Red Tornado presented the first applicant.
‘That’s kind of strange - not my usual ‘type’ at all,’ the always-on-guard observant part of his brain critically analyzed his reaction. ‘There’s something special about her…’ He distractedly tried to pay attention to the smaller young woman standing next to Red Tornado, several times having to remind himself not to get distracted again.
The small woman wasn’t wearing quite what Batwing thought of as a heroic costume, though he noted with approval that her clothes would allow her to move freely. Instead she had on light blue jeans almost the color of ice, a red and yellow sweatshirt, colored to look like flames, and a black domino mask. Her blonde hair was short and she was wearing sneakers. In her interactions with the other applicants and the Red Tornado, she’d seemed diffident almost to the point of fear and awe. Batwing had little confidence that she could ever be a super hero - if she was having trouble interacting with heroes, how would she react to villains? He was much more interested in the stacked, almost naked girl who would present second.
Still, she was here, which showed a certain amount of determination, and she’d made it past the screening team which meant her abilities must be useful. She’d get her chance, but he wasn’t going to waste any more time on her than necessary.
“So, who are you, and whatcha got?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Batwing, I don’t have a hero name yet. I’m hoping you guys can help me pick one out.” She didn’t quite stutter, but she was speaking slowly and it was hard to hear her. “My name is Peggy. I can control temperature…”
“So, can you burst into flames or cover yourself with ice?” Batwing interrupted. That would could be interesting.
“No, no… I make other things get wa… wa…. warmer or cooler,” she actually did stammer now, disconcerted at the interruption.
“Doesn’t sound very useful,” he replied dismissively. “OK, next ca…. YEEOOW!” He tore off his utility belt and convulsively threw it away from him. This left him dancing, and he realized his feet were suddenly freezing, and were losing traction, and he was unable to catch his balance, and fell heavily on his rump. On the way down, he noticed that his shoes were covered in ice! One of his gloves was so hot it hurt, and the other was as cold as ice and he clumsily stripped them off, trying to use the temperature of one to offset the other for the few instants it took to get rid of both. His mask was uncomfortably cold, though not unbearable, which was good because he needed his attention to try and strip off his costume top before it began to cause serious burns.
At this point she relented, and his clothing returned to its normal temperature, but she was still angry, and her shy diffidence had long been left behind. “Lucky for you I didn't have you stripping yourself naked and needing a hospital in seconds, Batboy! I coulda started by freezing your pants so solid nothing inside would thaw for hours, and you’d have nothing to impress the trashy chick with the big boobs.”
The trashy chick with the big boobs was laughing too hard to take offense at this, as were Coral and Star Sapphire. The Red Tornado was glad her helmet covered her face - it wouldn't do for the team's adviser to laugh publicly at the team leader! And with perfect timing, at that moment, Faust began his latest assault on the heroic team.
*~*
Several of Faust’s teleportation doorways suddenly opened and out spilled several costumed figures. Faust had already chosen the correct location for each door, and the Jr. Injustice Society launched themselves from their entry points without the slightest hesitation for orientation.
R-Ban might have been a bit sluggish after his long absence from yellow sunlight, but he knew he was faster than a puny human. He slammed into the Red Tornado, before she could move, knocking her flying, and then turned to see whether any of his new companions needed assistance. It was a mistake…
Suddenly, something hit him from behind and slammed him high into the air. He turned, and was battered by winds carrying dirt and gravel. As grit got in his eyes, he blinked to clear them, and then shielded them with his hand. He was stunned to see the Red Tornado lifting into the sky, her legs seemingly transformed into a whirlwind. The winds were tearing up the ground beneath her, and the debris was fast becoming part of the twister.
“I guess your parents didn’t teach you much about manners, sonny,” she reproved, a bit of anger in her voice. “Pretty cowardly, too, hitting an unaware foe from behind. You could use some lessons from my kids!”
"Faust said you might be tough," R-Ban sneered mockingly to the Red Tornado, "but you look like a dumpy old broad in… er, scratchy long johns?… to me." The villainous teen was apparently having some problem recalling the colloquial human idiom Faust had used. "And that helmet - did you use it to make soup in last night?" he snickered. "I was beating Superboy until he cheated, you know. Don't worry, I'll wrap this up quickly - but not painlessly!"
He focused his x-ray vision on her head - he wanted to watch the fear in her face. He was a bit surprised that something blocked his sight. "Damn, you must have lead in your helmet - too bad for you, though. I hear lead is dangerous to humans!" he mocked. Then he noticed that whatever blocked him from seeing through her helmet extended to her shoulders. A quick scan revealed that her entire body was impervious to his x-ray vision. "OK, what about heat vision and a slow death by incineration?" There was more anger and less mocking in his tone now.
"Sonny, you ain't nothin' but a punk - and I been dealing with punks like you, powers or none, for over 50 years. You got nothin' I ain't seen before." As twin ruby beams flashed from his eyes, her body began to change, as her legs already had.
Initially she seemed somehow less substantial than an instant ago, though the outline didn't change immediately. It was as if her body was swirling and quickly growing less substantial, and the twin lasers passed through her harmlessly. And she grew taller, and less human, until her whole body changed into a tight whirlwind, floating in the air in front of the Kryptonian delinquent, about twice as tall as he, with the metal helmet of the Red Tornado floating incongruously on top.
She spoke again, but this time the air itself surrounding R-Ban thundered at him. "Sonny, you need to learn some respect, and the Red Tornado is just the dumpy old broad to teach it to you!" Two swirling 'limbs' extended from the upper volume of the whirling dust devil, and R-Ban was pummeled with an invisible one-two, rocking his head side to side.
"Moons of Verdon!" R-Ban barked in pain. The punches themselves were less powerful than those of the Boy of Steel, but they carried other pain. On the red sun planet where he had been trapped by Superboy, he'd experienced burns and insect stings, and the pain on the sides of his face felt like the worst possible combination of the two. "You'll pay for that, you old bag!"
He extended his arms, fists clenched, and rocketed at her at his maximum acceleration, and he passed smoothly through the swirling winds. As he did, he felt a tingling sensation, akin to the pain in his face but lesser, almost like a sunburn, on his hands and head. The feeling did not quite vanish totally after he was out of the twister.
He twisted in the air, planning to attack her from the rear, but the Tornado attacked first - again. R-Ban was battered by the flying debris from the ground caught up in the twister, and though it didn't hurt him, it was very annoying - and each time the wind touched his exposed head, neck or hands, it stung like being flayed in a sandstorm, when he'd not been invulnerable. He raced away and she gave chase. He couldn't pull away, no matter how fast he flew, while she couldn't seem to quite catch up, either. He angled upward, and saw her speed start to falter as the air grew thinner. They were already hundreds of miles from Gotham City over the Atlantic Ocean, so he raced up and out of the atmosphere. Spying on her with his telescopic vision, he saw her come to a halt, and then begin flying back toward Gotham, much more slowly than when he'd been leading her.
'Without me to pull her along, it's going to take her an hour to get back to the battleground. We'll be done there long before that!' he thought in triumph, as he plunged back through the atmosphere to join his new teammates. 'Faust wants to capture the kids - and he said all needed to do was just keep the old biddy from stopping us. Guess I've done that!' He could still feel the mysterious sting from the Red Tornado's wind, but it was slowly fading. 'Maybe Faust can help me figure out what caused that - before I dump this team of losers!'
*~*
"You're Darkling, right?" Star Sapphire queried the black figure who just stood there, confronting her. He seemed kind of confused that she was talking, not fighting, so she continued to talk. "It's really hard to tell with all that dark, but I think you're kind of cute. Don't move! I promise I'm not attacking!"
Her jewel flickered and a ray of pink light flashed from her hand, momentarily illuminating Darkling's face. She couldn't tell much - his dark aura seemed to swallow most of the light, and he moved quickly out of the harmless beam, but she made out some quick details - tousled hair, dark blue skin, impish features, pointed ears. "Say, you ARE cute - you look like an elf!"
She was surprised when he answered back - the last time the two teams had fought, he'd hardly said anything. "In my own language, my species name means ‘Dark Elf’."
“Ah, I guess that explains why you’re evil, then…” she nodded.
He interrupted, emphatically: “Not evil! Weakness is evil, evil is weakness! I am not weak!”
“So, what, we should be fighting, then? Talking's pretty weak, isn't it?” She wondered if this 'dark elf' understood sarcasm.
“No human girl… has ever… called me cute before,” he spoke hesitatingly.
"Maybe, if you weren’t always attacking us we…”
He tried to interrupt again: "Lo…". Her gem also screamed a warning at her. But it was too late….
Something slammed into her and knocked her flying. If she hadn't had her gem projecting an energy shield as a precaution, she would probably have been seriously injured; as it was, she was knocked unconscious as R-Ban flashed by, flicking the back of her head with an index finger. He ignored the stunned Darkling, and circled around looking for another target.
“Grundy smash fish girl!” the big white golem screamed as he launched himself at Coral. She shoved her table at him and rolled out of her chair.
“Geez, you sure have a one-track mind, don’t you, whitey?” she snarled back. The pool was nearby; Coral headed in that direction, and her hands were full of spheres of hardened water by the time Grundy had regained his balance. She threw one, then the other, and they shattered with the force of hand grenades against his chest as he stomped towards her.
“Bah! Gundy not need balls that boom! Gundy has Fists of BOOM!” He punched with his right to prove his point, and even though Coral blocked, she was knocked staggering backward.
Grundy continued to stalk forward relentlessly, but slowly, giving Coral time to recover. “I’ve got some boom myself, buddy!” She got her arms up, and started parrying and punching back. She was faster and hit him more often than he did, but he was stronger and hit harder. It was a fairly even fight, until R-Ban landed nearby.
“Stand aside, weakling,” he commanded his teammate. “I’ll take care of this girl for you.”
“Grundy not need help. Go away!” With that, the golem turned toward the Kryptonian and threw a surprise punch at R-Ban’s jaw. Coral also slammed a punch of her own at the interloper, and they both connected, one on each said of the jaw, at the same split instant. The combined surprise double super-punch lifted the Kid of Delinquent from the ground and tossed him backward, until he crashed into the old tank, where he cracked the armor on impact, then crumbled into a heap on the ground, temporarily dazed - though he was clearly already beginning to recover.
“Say, big fella, that was sweet!” Coral said enthusiastically to her sparring partner.
“Grundy not get ‘sweet’”, the monster replied. Well, he wasn't hitting!
“Fun? Do you understand 'fun'?” she questioned.
“Fun! Yes, was fun. Now water girl and Grundy have more fun!” He charged at her again.
“Crap, no wonder you never have any dates,” she sighed, as she prepared to defend herself again. This could be a long fight!
*~*
“You’re gonna be sorry you used up your powers embarrassing my boyfriend!” Dollface promised with an evil cackle as she hurtled toward Peggy, who was looking stunned at the sudden appearance of a team of super villains in the middle of the tryouts. But not too stunned to move out of the way of an attack.
She barely dodged the smaller girl’s initial rush. Dollface came to a stop about 30 feet from the slightly larger heroine wannabe, turned and rushed forward again, this time in a barely controlled tumbling run - a dive roll, tuck jump, handspring, round off, and there she was, only a foot from where Peggy had been standing, expecting to find her foe frozen to the spot and wide open to whatever attack Dollface settled on. But there was nobody there! She almost stumbled, bounced high into the air to kill her forward momentum, and spun through 360 degrees in the air until she spotted her foe - who had moved a dozen feet to the side. Dollface landed lightly and bounced again, directly in Peggy’s direction. Peggy dove forward in her own dive roll, exhibiting excellent form, twisting as she came to her feet - to find Dollface facing her.
“I can see I’m not in your class, but I’m a pretty good gymnast myself. I know just how fast you get going on a tumbling run and I’m not stupid enough to stand in your way!” Peggy was just a little breathless. Dollface advanced on her again, this time more slowly, looking for an opening. But Peggy wasn’t done talking yet. “You actually think Batwing’s your boyfriend? He sure didn’t think so a few minutes ago, when he was practically drooling over Miss Twin Full Moons over there!” she spat back. Dolly was just lunging when Peggy pointed, and for just an instant, she turned her head, and saw Faust bowing to kiss the hand of a tall, dark, very voluptuous bald woman in a revealing outfit. She was distracted for just that instant, and Peggy kicked her in the head, hard!
“I’ll get you for that, girly - but you’ll have to wait. Me and lover boy have some things to discuss!” Dollface easily rolled with the kick, and spun around until she spotted Batwing, who was currently engaged in a furious battle with Tigress. “And that cat bitch better stay out of my way!”
Peggy watched her go, wondering what she should do next. Join the fight? Go for help? She wasn’t a Jr. JSA member - heck, she wasn’t even a super heroine and hadn’t even selected a code name yet! But before she decided, she was corralled by a recovered R-Ban.
"C’thullu’s wings!" Faust exclaimed as he stepped through his doorway to stand in front of the statuesque bald girl in the barely-there outfit. His entire battle strategy seemed to suddenly flee to the back of his mind upon first sight of ‘the enemy’.
"Listen, my dear," his voice dropped, as he tried to sound suave, mysterious and persuasive, all at once, "I don't know what future you see with the losers in the Jr. justice scouts, here, but if you join with my team, anything you want is yours! Riches, fame, riches, notoriety, riches, admirers,… and did I happen to mention the riches?"
She was more amused than worried, as her eyes swept up and down his body. He grabbed her hand with both of his and bent over to kiss it. "Faust, wizard extraordinaire, at your service!"
"Another fawning fan," she sighed dramatically, "and I bet I didn't even need to use my power." She looked down as he kissed her hand, staring up at her with dilating pupils. "I didn't really believe a costume and a shaved head would actually fool anybody. She shook her head in disbelief. "Look at me again, pretty-boy, and tell me why you think I need fame, riches and admirers?" Her tone was haughty, commanding. … that of a diva.
She stepped away, moved to a stack of weights nearby, raised her right leg to rest on top the stack, and struck a pose - a famous pose. On the ‘Big Game Cover’ album cover, her foot was resting on the back of a muscular man spread out like a bearskin rug. Her hands were on her hips and her head was thrown back in triumph! Her lips moved, and Faust thought he could barely hear whispered words sung to a haunting melody. He wondered if she'd shaved her head just for this tryout, or if her fantastic mane of thick hair had always been a wig?
"By Wotan! You're Lisha Lisha! I have all your albums - including 'Big Game Hunter!" Suddenly, Faust was reduced from the suave leader of a dangerous team of super villains to a mere fawning fanboy. "Can I have your autograph?"
And yet, he WAS a powerful wizard, and he instantly recognized the effects of an encirclement spell - similar to one of the effects Savant …. Curse her stubborn hide…. could produce. The delivery mechanism was totally different, though. His anger at his former team mate’s resistance combined with his anger at the audacity of his new opponent, fueling him to break through and he shook off the spell.
"And I am Faust!" There followed a short series of sounds that are totally indescribable in English, sounds that human vocal cords should have been incapable of producing, and he stood up straight, his eyes blazing with anger. "NO ONE enchants Faust!" His hands rose, and he began weaving them in a complex pattern, as he chanted in a long dead language. As he barked out the last syllable, he felt an invisible ectoplasmic shield close around him, leaving his mind totally clear.
In front of him, the air blurred, just for an instant, and when the blur cleared, the scene in front of him had shifted. Standing triumphantly was R-ban, and Peggy, Lisha Lisha, and the so-far-anonymous male in costume lay struggling weakly at his feet, wrapped in a cocoon of rope. Lying next to them was the unconscious form of Star Sapphire.
*~*
"Shall I wrap up the other two as well, Faust, oh glorious leader?" Faust bristled at R-Ban's mocking tone - the guy needed to come down a peg. He looked around and saw just the pawn to do it for him. Grundy and Coral were pounding the crap out of each other, both looking worse for the wear, and their two female teammates were enthusiastically attacking Batwing - and occasionally each other.
"But of course. Why don't you start with the Bat brat?" Faust pointed with a sly grin.
"You got it!" R-Ban turned toward the fight around Batwing and strode forward. Hardly looking at the Kryptonian, Batwing casually sidestepped attacks from Tigress and Dolly, pulled something like a marble from his utility belt, and tossed it at R-Ban. He then turned his attention back to the women attacking him. R-Ban didn't even bother to avoid it - what could a human throw that casually that could have any effect on him whatsoever?
Most humans didn't hang around with Red Robin, not to mention several Kryptonians, ghosts, some of the most powerful wizards in the universe, and several human inventive geniuses… most humans didn't devote a good part of their lives training to fight beings much more powerful than they, to being 'better than the best'… the marble instantly expanded until it was the size of a softball, and when it struck R-Ban in the stomach, it exploded, and the front of his body was engulfed in rapidly-hardening epoxy - green kryptonite-based epoxy that set instantly to a hardness enhanced a million-fold by a powerful magical spell. R-Ban fell instantly to the turf.
Batwing didn't even notice; if the stuff hadn't already worked successfully on Superboy, he would have improved it already. Faust let out a satisfied guffaw and turned to watch the remaining fights with interest.
With two 'Main Events' to choose from, Faust initially attempted to watch both, swinging his gaze back and forth between Kid Grundy and Coral to Batwing, Tigress and Dollface. But he quickly realized that he was missing most of the interesting action.
Kid Grundy was taller, with a longer reach, and somewhat stronger than Coral. But she was much faster and a skilled fighter. Kid Grundy, on the other hand, had never learned how to fight when still alive, and as a member of the undead, had no interest in learning now. Both fighters could withstand a tremendous amount of damage, and It quickly got boring watching Coral weave and bob and land a dozen skillful punches for every lucky, awkward blow she took. Faust mentally assigned Kid Grundy 11 to 2 odds of winning by knockout and turned his attention to the other battle. By doing so, he missed the very interesting dialog that accompanied the fight.
"Kid…" Coral panted after taking a big hit, "this is NOT fun!"
Kid Grundy paused for just a second, confused. "Fish girl not having fun?"
"My name is Coral, not fish girl, not water girl, Coral! And no, getting beat up is not my idea of fun. Why are we fighting, anyway?"
"Faust told Kid Grundy to fight fish… Coral." He took a half-hearted swing, and she ducked. "And Kid Grundy having fun!"
"So you do everything Faust tells you to?" She swung back, landing a blow to the jaw that barely moved his head. "Why?"
"Kid Grundy not know." He shook his head a couple of times. "Faust says fight, Kid Grundy fights!"
Coral started to say something, but Grundy roared at her, cutting her off. "Fish girl stop talking! Fight!" He started swinging wildly, pressing forward, and soon had Coral backed against the wall of the bleachers. Coral grunted in pain from another shot, and realized she couldn't take much more, and got ready to put every ounce of strength she had left into one last punch.
"Coral right… not fun any longer. Kid Grundy sorry, Coral. Faust says fight until Coral down."
He twisted away, twisted back, launching one last punch with everything he had left. Coral saw it coming, but he left himself open at the same time, and she threw her own last punch of desperation. Both punches landed with retorts like twin bunker-cracking bombs. Coral was slammed backward into the inner wall of the stadium, smashing out a Coral-shaped dent, sending deadly shards of debris flying as she slumped to the ground. Faust was knocked tumbling backward, destroying equipment and crushing apparatus, until he came to a halt, unconscious, not more than ten feet from his master, Faust.
~*~
"How DARE you even look at that big bald hussy, you two-timing piece of bat-crap?" Dollface screamed as she launched herself off the ground, then a nearby vaulting horse, and zoomed at Batwing like a low-flying missile. He hadn't been quite sure why she had attacked in such a rage, even knocking Tigress aside to get at him, but then it clicked.
In a flash of inspiration, he recalled his earlier moment of attraction to the girl in maroon, and realized that she must have some kind of infatuation powers. He would have sworn he 'heard' a pop in his mind at that realization, and suddenly he was overwhelmed by disgust for that same girl in maroon. He shook his head in disbelief at the attraction he'd felt initially, and this tiny distraction provided just enough hesitation for Tigress to kick him in the chin - at exactly the same split instant as Dollface bounced off a piece of apparatus and slammed into the back of his knees. He tumbled backward, trying to turn a dazed fall into a barely-controlled tumble.
"Listen, you witch!" Dollface bounced up off the ground and had a hand on Deanna's throat before the startled Tigress could move. "Batwing is MY boyfriend, and nobody can kill him but ME!"
"You're a psycho!" Tigress shouted back, whipping around a quick elbow that struck the smaller girl in the head, breaking her hold. "When you've killed him, what then? Kill another?
"In Gotham, there's always another bus of boys coming by every few minutes. Why not?" Dollface laughed as she bounced away.
A batarang whipped past and then around her, trailing a thin wire, and orbited thrice before running out of momentum. Her arms were pinned to her sides, and a quick yank knocked her from her feet. "Stay put, Dollface! I'll get back to you in a second!"
"He called me Dollface!" she yelled happily. "He really DOES love me!"
"It's your name, you idiot wacko!" Tigress barked, as she dodged a sphere the size of a golf ball. It exploded against a balance beam just behind her, and spilled out hundreds of bee-bees - and suddenly the Torrid Tabby was scrambling to stay on her feet.
"Your turn, kitty," Batwing teased as another globe burst on her chest, releasing a puff of vapor.
"So you want to tie me up, eh, honey-cutey?" Dollface had already managed to work her ultra-flexible arms out from under the tight wire. "I think we should save that for later - when we're private." She leaped at him, wrapped her legs around his waist, and pulled his head forward for a vicious head-butt. "Aren't we gonna have fun when you wake up!"
Off balance and his head ringing, Batwing stumbled forward and stepped on a patch of ball bearings, totally lost his balance, and fell, right on top of Tigress, squishing Dolly between them.
"As much as I've been enjoying this particular spectacle, we've already been here longer than I'd planned," Faust spoke up. Once more, he spoke several words in a harsh language. Batwing, Coral and Star Sapphire were whisked together into a single pile and wrapped in magical tendrils. Grundy, R-Ban, Tigress and Dollface were whisked into a similar, though larger, pile.
"Quite the successful haul, wouldn't you say, Darkling?" he smirked to his one upright teammate. "Shall we away?" Another quick chant, several quick gestures, and another mystical doorway appeared. Faust and Darkling stepped through the floating gateway, and the two bundles of semi-conscious combatants floated docilely behind.
And the three applicants left behind struggled weakly to free themselves from R-Ban's bindings, pondering their futures. After a first outing such as this, did they
really want to be superheroes after all?