T H E T E L E P O R T E R R O O M
July 28th, 2021 | 10:08am. | Happy Harbor, Rhode Island
The kitchen of Mount Justice was smelling of a freshly baked cake. The aroma wafted through the air, warm and inviting. Red Tornado usually had no business in the kitchen. Preparing food, especially baked goods was something Daphne usually did. He’d discovered her skills of hospitality were beneficial to Team bonding. Even though she wasn’t there to assist he had the TV to help him out.
He was simultaneously watching a tutorial on the lounge television while whipping up a batch of chocolate frosting. He copied the recipe step by step and even went as far as wearing an apron and chef's hat. The kitchen looked like a tornado passed through it. All the ingredients were sprawled out everywhere. There was egg sticking from the ceiling and a staggering amount of bowls and spoons. You’d think there were at least five cakes in the making.
“Now this is the important step. The cakes must be fully cooled before frosting, or the cakes won’t stick together. We don’t want any sliding action going on”Red Tornado turned his head to the cake which had only been out of the oven for four minutes and 22 seconds. Despite being an android with superior processing speed, this human on the cooking programme had some kind of special equipment or method he used. Because the cake was already cooled and ready to be frosted to perfection, a mere two minutes into the video.
The android had miscalculated the time he needed to create this welcome gift. In less than ten minutes the new members were going to arrive. He needed to go to the teleporter room. With his free hand he sent a series of soft and steady gusts of wind towards the cake.
Three minutes and 56 seconds later Red Tornado rushed through the hallways. He was still wearing the apron and holding the cake inside a plastic dome. The Team’s caretaker arrived just in time to hear the Zeta Tube system announce the first newcomer. If he could sweat now would be the time he’d wipe some off of his forehead.
“League identification 036 Nightwing”Nightwing exited the glowing dome of the teleporter and pulled up a touch screen, typing in a new designation code.
“Access granted, Vincent Ryder, aka Talos Y17, Authorization Nightwing 036”Mere seconds after Wonder Woman arrived with two other new members.
“Wonder Woman 03”
“Access granted, Cora Danvers aka Enceladus Y15”
“Pei Huo aka Iceburn designation Y16”Nightwing caught the disaster cake sitting under the dome and to top it off Red Tornado in a pink flowery apron. He almost lost his cool.
“Hello Red Tornado…” He could swear he pulled a muscle in his face in trying not to smirk.
“Good morning Nightwing, Wonder Woman, Talos, Enceladus and Iceburn”“Morning John,” Wonder Woman answered in her usual serious tone.
“Is that a cake…?” The amazon frowned slightly in genuine surprise. It was very unlike John to attempt something like this, but she did not doubt its genuineness.
“Yes Diana, that is correct. Unfortunately there has been some sliding action.”The two halves of the cake had slid off of each other, the frosting was all over the inside of the dome.
“It is a gesture to make the new members feel at home and welcome.”Hopefully the new members didn’t mind eating cake with their hands, as there wasn’t a knife in sight.
“PFFFT HA HA HAHahahahaha!” Pei pointed at the chef and burst out into laughter.
With a laugh in her voice, she continued.
“Awww, thank you! Gimme some of that!” She skipped over to accept the cake gift and pop off the plastic dome, ready to scoop up a part of it with her fingers and eat the cake off of it.
There was a sudden puff of smoke and Zach dashed into the room before it cleared.
“Zach Zatara, at your service!” He flourished and bowed. [color=darkviolet“I heard there were new people… But more importantly, cake.”[/color]
Stepping forth from the teleporter-warp-portal-whatever nonsense was one of the recruits with snow-white hair and glowing blue eyes. The woman, the myth, the not-legend, Cora. [color=00ffff]“Yeah! I’m a new person. Hi. Is- Is that a
cake?” She asked, seeing the Avatar-looking dude with an absolute mess of a cake in his hands getting assaulted by her new friend, Pei.
“Cake for the new people.” Pei said emphatically, trying to intercept any approach from Zach with a glare. At least she said something similar to that, she still had her fingers in her mouth.
Zach shrugged his shoulders.
“There’s only three of you, and more cake than that. Ekac fo ecils.” Immediately and magically, a slice was cut and poofed into his greedy hands.
“There’s plenty to share.” He shoved the piece into his mouth.
“Mmm, not bad. Daphne did it better though.” He spoke with his mouth full.
The third of the recruits, Vincent, stood off to the side, facing the wall as he fought a wave of dizziness.
God, I would rather have flown, he thought as the nausea passed.
Hopefully it’s one of those things I’ll get used to. I don’t wanna be the guy who gets sick every time.When he was certain he had gotten over his ‘first teleportation wooziness’, he turned toward the others to find them gathered around Red Tornado, enjoying…something that looked like a mass of blended color. A small piece of steel separated from the implant on his back, slithered down his arm, and into his hand where it molded itself into a stylized knife.
“It doesn’t look pretty, no offense, but cake is cake.” He cut himself a slice and the knife reformed into a small plate, complete with a fork. He stepped back and asked,
“So, what now? While I don’t mind it, I didn’t come all this way for cake.”Zach shrugged.
“I’m sure they’ll throw all of us on a mission soon. In the meantime, chill. Enjoy the party. Please tell me you're more fun than the other boys in this group.”“...Hey!” Pei poofed a snowball into existence and flung it at Zach so it’d hit his shirt.
“Cake stealer. ‘Eekaky fo wacky’ sounding. We just got killed and re-assembled into an exact clone with all of our old memories and this is how you treat us?”Cora hoped they weren’t
actually killed and cloned. That would be weird.
“Hmm.” Viktor entered, first taking in what was happening before speaking.
“Welcome to the team, you three. I'm Viktor and look forward to seeing you perform in the field,” he said with much effort as he attempted to be careful with his first impression for once, though his tone lacked any warmth.
“...Hey, Vik- can I call ya Vik? I’ll stick with Viktor. I’m Pei!” “No one refers to me as 'Vik' but it is quicker to say. I… shorten everyone's names too when possible.” Viktor wasn't used to being around someone so energetic.
She moves too much…“Oh, sweet, Vik it is! My name is already pretty short but feel free to shorten it even more.” Pei said.
“I could just be ‘puh.’”“Puh…” He tried it but frowned.
“'Pei' will do just fine.” Pei laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, jolly.
Viktor's eyes quickly met Nightwing.
“Nightwing,” and then Wonder Woman.
“Wonder Woman.” He nodded at them respectively with his short greeting to the two heroes.
Pei looked to the side at Nightwing and Wonder Woman as Viktor regarded them coolly. She bounced lightly on her heels, excited.
“I know, right? I got all my freaking out done on the way here. So many Leaguers!”“I’m Cora. I’m the one who zaps people. Nice to meet you.” She didn’t admit it, but that Viktor guy looked… Scary. The cake looked nice, but she didn’t have a plate.
“What- Uh… What happened to that cake?”Zaps people? Viktor raised a brow but refrained from asking.
“Yep. I zap people.” She held up both hands in front of Viktor, and suddenly an arc of blue electricity began dancing around her fingers similar to what she showed Pei before they arrived.
“Lightning.”“Useful,” Viktor muttered under his breath with a slight glean in his eyes.
Vincent finished his piece of cake, having practically inhaled it, and licked his fork and plate clean before they recombined and slithered back up his arm. The liquid steel rejoined his implant as he said with a grin,
“Name’s Vincent. Just point me at whatever needs beating up and I’ll get it done.” He paused and took a moment to look at Viktor before saying,
“You know, you look kinda familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it…”“Is that so, Vince? I wouldn't consider myself well known but I have featured on Zach's YouTube channel in the past. I am his former assistant.” Viktor glanced at Zach but didn't shoot him a dirty look… this time.
Pei looked between Viktor and Vincent, blinking her big eyes. She subtly moved to Cora’s side, eating the last of the cake off her fingers. She leaned over conspiratorially.
“...Hey…Cora…” She sounded like she was about to say something, but then she just giggled.
“What? What’s so funny?”“Look at the beefcakes over there.” She indicated Viktor and Vincent again.
“I hope one of them starts wearing funny hats or something.””Funny hats? Hmm. Yeah. That would be funny, I guess.”Pei just giggled some more, trying to solidify which one was which in her head before she started getting them confused.
Meanwhile on the outer edge of the room, the young lion watched all of this from a distance, arm in hand behind his back. At least as far as initial impressions go, Kila decided to gauge how the new ones interacted with what he’d call the team’s ‘difficult’ members. He remembered the last people that were introduced, albeit the memory was strangely vague. What he had though, was that they were both associated with demons. One of them in particular had the mouth of a devil, more so than even Zach. Along with their quick removal, Kila supposed the concept of new ones left an odd taste in his mouth. Still, he kept in mind that he shouldn’t hold that against them. So, he took a half bow of sorts to the visitors and new members alike.
“My name is Kilamanjaro. But you may call me Kila.”Pei forgot all about the cake she was so offended about and turned to everyone with a bow.
”Pei Huo. The Incorrigible Iceburn.” She walked up to Kila and went to take his hand and vigorously shake it. The young lion made an awkward smile of sorts with the oddly moist handshake.
“Nice to meetcha, looking forward to working together!” She smiled wide.
“League identification 043 Vixen.”A statuesque dark skinned woman walked out of the Zeta Tube. She walked with poise and purpose, wearing a sleeveless orange catsuit. It was modified with a few stylistic touches, a popped collar and a v neckline.
It was likely a combination of her maternal instinct and animal senses that made her hone in on Kila almost immediately. She greeted the other leaguers in a manner that was slightly snobbish but it was offset by the warmth in her voice.
She moved through the room and reached Kila. Vixen got out a handkerchief that looked frighteningly expensive, especially when she used it to clean Kila’s hand, getting chocolate all over it.
“Geza maoko ako””Hongu, Amai…”Vixen looked at her son, who had nodded his lowering head with a stern expression on her face. She then turned back to the others, tossing the handkerchief to Pei.
“Girl, that’s not really how you make a first impression.”“Uah?” Pei said, confused and a little star struck, looking down at her hand with the handkerchief in it.
“Oh.” It seemed like only then she realized the full implications of being in a room full of Justice League members. She laughed a little nervously.
“It was either refuse the welcoming gift cake, or not shake anyone’s hand…” She mused quietly as she wiped her hand off.
“Such are the conundrums a hero must confront…r-right?”Cora leans over and whispers to Viktor who took a slight step away to maintain his personal space.
”Who the hell is she?” She was a bit of a nerd for Justice League stuff, but that woman didn’t look familiar.
“Vixen. She's quite capable from what I know of her.” He answered simply. The subtle yet familiar footsteps of another approaching the room drew his attention.
Alisa had been spending a lot of time in her room for the past week. Her new body took some getting used to, but today… she knew there were new teammates arriving, but she didn’t feel well. At least, she hadn’t felt well for the last ten minutes. It was strange. She had never been sick before- as a matter of fact, it was physiologically impossible for her to be sick. She felt… staticky. Off.
But no matter that. She needed to go meet new people. She couldn’t say she was excited. In fact, she had been dreading this. As Alisa approached the lounge, however, she started to feel worse and worse. She felt off balance, and she had never felt nausea before, but was that nausea? She entered, the feeling intensifying.
“Hel-” Just then, static took over her voice, sending it into an incomprehensible, high pitched noise. Panic entered her eyes. Was something wrong?
“Oh. Is… Is she okay?” “Oh, shit!” Pei exclaimed.
“Err- don’t put anything in her mouth! Right?” She said, trying to remember what to do if someone had a seizure.
“Alisa.” Viktor moved to her side.
“What's wrong?” “I feel-“ Alisa hiccuped, a sensation that startled her.
“Unwell.” Her voice was still laced with static, although it was receding. She glanced around the room, searching for the source.
Vincent, who had been distracted from trying to figure out where he had seen Viktor from, watched what was happening to Alisa with curiosity and wondered if that kind of thing happened often. That's when someone who knew better approached, leading with her empathy. There was a disembodied, soft voice at Alisa's other side.
“Easy, my friend. Do you need to rest?" Kassandra appeared slowly, so as to not startle anyone further. Her hand rested at Alisa's shoulder, ready to catch her. Her orange eyes showed quiet concern; they had only just gotten her back safe and sound.
“Viktor, could you carry her if she faints?”“Easily,” he answered.
Perhaps Alisa was overwhelmed. Kassandra could relate. It had taken her longer than she wanted to dress and muster the energy to go up and join the others. Despite no longer being the skittish guppy from months ago, she was still wary of strangers. But, she was now considered a senior member of the team. If it meant saving Alisa the stress, it was worth it. She nodded briefly to Viktor, and stepped away to give the two some privacy.
By the time she turned around, she'd put on a polite face.
“Good morning, all.” She inclined her head politely to the full members of the League. She'd not actually met all of the others' mentors for more than a few moments.
“And to the new members, welcome. I'm-” The young Atlantean stopped mid-sentence, her muscles suddenly taut. The core team had seen her do this before. It was her prey-sense at work. But why here - these were her allies. A second sweep of the room made everything clear. Yes, her body warned her of a predator, and she was close.
Vixen. She'd never met Kila's mother before, though he always spoke of her with love and pride in his voice. The woman was barely taller than Kassy herself, and much more slender. She was utterly beautiful - it was obvious where Kila had gotten his handsomeness from. But her prey-sense was telling her she was swimming with not a shark, but a dolphin. Less bloodthirsty - infinitely more intelligent.
She realized she'd been staring.
“Um. G-good morning! Y-you must be Vixen.” Vincent's attention pulled toward Vixen, now. He had heard of her, but only so far as her being part of the Justice League. He figured he shouldn’t be surprised that she was the mother to one of his new colleagues, given that this group were all heroes in their own right, from what Nightwing had told him. However, her status as a League member did nothing to make him think before he spoke:
“Guess it’s no wonder how you got that name.”Vixen responded to Vincent, understanding the innuendo but decided not to acknowledge it.
“I chose the name, no one gave it to me.” The woman swiftly shut that path of conversation down, which allowed for others' focus to be steered back to Alisa and her unusual problem.
It was a newer occurrence for her to suddenly grow weak to the point of her voice shifting. It wasn’t the first time that Alisa had exhibited odd little quirks, but not quite
this rattling. The young lion chalked those issues up to her still trying to readjust to the new body, which they had learned was not constructed the same as her original. Kila could relate in a way, to waking up and his own body feeling foreign to him. So, he offered support where he could. However with his other teammates already aiding, as well as Justice Leaguers present, he kept in place.
Kila had his gaze still trained on Alisa up until Vincent had spoken, to which he turned his head to him. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to what the new boy had said. What was that meant to mean? When his eyes roamed, he noticed that the views of the other teens shifted between the ailing android and his amai. Looking at the woman beside him, then to the stumbling Kassy, he wryly smiled.
“Idzi ndidzo-“ He paused,
“These are my friends, amai. Kassandra, Viktor, Alisa, and…” He looked around for the black haired magician briefly before gesturing off to him still near Red Tornado.
Vixen was calmly reading the room. Her sharp eyes went from face to face. There were multiple types of energy shifting into each other. Emotional energy seemed to radiate strongest in the ones Kila called his friends. Her senses also picked up on an undercurrent of sorts. Noticing Alisa’s odd behavior, she addressed Red Tornado.
“Something is troubling her Red Tornado.” The android nodded and started towards Alisa and Viktor. The latter of which was studying his teammate's abnormal symptoms.
“Magnets? No. You should be charged, yes? Hmm…” He glared around the room.
Something or someone is doing this to her, but how?. Viktor's eyes glanced between the three new members of the team. They didn't appear to be doing anything suspicious but he remained wary of them. He had always been skeptical about the Justice League's vetting process for their team. Sometimes he even wondered how easily the team could be infiltrated by a person with ill-intentions toward them.
“Red Tornado, I think we should take her to the hallway. I think something here is bothering her.”“I- hic- charged last- hic night.”Uh. Wait. Wait, is she… A robot?” Cora asked with what sounded like genuine concern upon hearing the static come out of Alisa’s mouth. Viktor's sights locked on her immediately.
“Yes, Cora… Why?”While the tension on one side of the room was soon becoming thick on one side of the room, the other end had a bit of its own…
Vixen wasn’t privy to the intimate details of the Team’s inner workings. She requested to be kept updated on important events, especially ones considering her son.
“I heard the Team had a trifecta of the natural forces, where is the third?” Vixen directed the question to both the Team and the League members present. Her attention then shifted to Kassandra. Her dark eyes appraised the aquatic heroine after she had introduced herself. The girl was a bunch of nerves. Sometimes she had that effect on people.
“Speak freely Atlantean.”Kassy felt something in herself trying to shrink away from Vixen as they made eye contact. The desire to back away was strong. It was like being back in the throne room of Atlantis over a year ago, before any of this had started.
Then again, she wasn't the child she used to be. She had been chosen, tested and tried. She had even been broken, but was regrowing her teeth. Despite her scars, she was still here.
The shift in the young Atlantean was mostly invisible from the outside. She stood a bit straighter, and her voice was firm.
“You are thinking of Daphne, or Nymph, ma'am. She's currently indisposed, unfortunately.”An undercurrent would go unnoticed by the majority of the room, save for those like Kila and Vixen with the power to sense it. Kassandra looked Vixen in the eyes, her bearing respectful of the stronger predator. But there was no fear present anymore; instead a silent declaration that Kassandra wouldn't lie down if challenged.
“It's a pleasure to meet you in person. Kila always speaks of you with high praise, and I can see why.”Oddly enough, Kila could feel the change in her demeanor. The way Kass acted when she approached versus the way she spoke now, indicated such. A subtle shift of strength that the shy water child had only displayed flashes of in the past. To see it, even up to the intimidating figure that his mother could present, caught Kila off guard. A warmth came to his chest, and the dry smile from before became more wholehearted. Golden eyes gleamed brightly and proud, but no words came from him. Even if he had something to say, it’d probably stumble out.
Vixen broke into a somewhat unexpected warm smile. The same energy she sensed before became more prevalent, the stronger Kassy’s presence became, but she wasn’t the source, rather the cause. Her eyes went from Kila to Kassy and back, something gleaming within them.
“It’s good to meet you Kassandra.” A smooth conclusion.
Meanwhile, Pei stood with Cora, Vincent, and some of the Leaguers, watching with her hands flat at her sides.
“Well, this is off to a rip-roaring start. Couldn’t even make it two minutes without a medical emergency. What are we supposed to do now? This is so awkward.” “Well. Okay. I know what the problem is. Don’t freak out but… It’s me. Whenever electronic stuff gets around me, it acts… Off. It’s not gonna kill her but I kinda have that effect on stuff. If she’s a robot, then that’s awkward.”“...Robot?” Pei blinked.
Alisa’s eye twitched. Her mouth resolved itself into a thin line. She was peeved. More than that- pissed. Of course it would get worse. Of course!
“Are you- hic- for fucking real? Seriously?”“Sorry… I can’t really turn it off.”“You're kidding right? You interfere with electronics and you can't really turn it off?” Viktor shook his head as he realized the recruits were too good to be true.
“How are we even supposed to conduct a mission with you around?”“I don’t know! Just point me at somebody and I can blast ‘em out of existence. I can do that.”Viktor simply sighed and averted his eyes, fighting not to say anything else.
“Sorry.”Pei sauntered and set her arm around Cora’s shoulders, giving her the side hug.
“Hey.” She said to everyone.
“Gang. It’s all good. We can work somethin’ out, probably. The robot could wear rubber gloves. Or…Cora could wear rubber gloves. I’m sure the answer is rubber gloves. We’re just getting to know each other!” She said.
“The robot has- hic- a name. I’m Alisa. And I’m not- hic- a robot, I’m an android. I’m AI.” The constant vocal interruptions seemed to be somewhat subsiding, but Alisa still felt off. She glanced at Red Tornado, then Black Canary. How had they thought this was a good idea?
“Alisa the Android!” Pei said, her palms skyward. She pat Cora reassuringly on the back and moved away, closer to Alisa.
“Cora has lightning powers. Maybe they’re messing with your…sinuses? Your circuits? If ol’ Red here is fine, then I’m sure you can be, too.” Pei was nothing if not an optimist.
Alisa looked at Pei, not dropping her slightly annoyed look.
“It’s more- hic complicated than that. I just got a new body. I’ll- hic- have to call Cyborg again.” She grimaced. But… it probably wasn’t her fault. Or either of them’s. Alisa had no idea what it was to have powers you couldn’t control. She looked at Cora, expression softening.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been- hic- stressed, lately. It’s not your fault.” “You're right. It isn't her fault. It isn't anyone's but theirs.” Viktor's set toward the Leaguers.
“I'm not a fan of this team being treated like a daycare.”“Oh, it’s no one’s fault! Cora has lightning powers, Alisa is stressed because she just got this new body, whatever that means… I imagine it’s like spilling wine on a shirt you just bought.” Pei said. A little eagerly on the ‘it’s nobody’s fault’ part because, well…Leaguers! Yikes!
Wonder Woman carefully observed the escalating conversation between the established and new members. She had been briefed about the current state of the Team, fragile would be the word she’d use to describe it. This reaction wasn’t completely unexpected. She stepped into the center of the group.
“Everyone has a right to be here, we recruited you for different reasons. To learn control, to see the value of teamwork, trust in each other's strengths and cover for the weaknesses.”She turned to Viktor, her blue eyes unyielding.
“It is not for you to say who deserves to be here and who doesn’t. At one time you must also have struggled with your newfound powers. Getting control over something that sometimes controls you is no easy task. Have more empathy.” “Agreed. It's for you to say who deserves to be here and who doesn't… Your responsibility. And yes I have struggled with my abilities, but I was never operational until H.I.V.E. deemed me prepared. With that said, I'm willing to work with my new teammates as best as I am able. We'll find a way like we've done so far.” His last sentence was more so addressing the team as he looked at each of them as he spoke.
How Viktor didn’t turn into a shriveled up husk was beyond Pei, but she just clapped her hands together and shrugged happily at his response.
“Red Tornado’s an android too, right? He’s fine. Which means he’s built so he can’t be all staticked up by, well, static. That’s all it is. I just give off static, it makes phone screens flicker and sometimes speakers act weird, but it won’t kill her. I’m sorry you think my powers are annoying but if the League can build a teleporter, I’m pretty damn sure they can figure out how to work around me. All you gotta do is insulate Alisa’s… techy bits with something static-proof and do that with everything important. That’s how motherboards are kept safe. Ain’t that big of a deal right now. We’ll figure it out later.”Nightwing nudged Vincent with his shoulder.
“You can cut the tension with a knife in here right..?”Vincent had been watching his new colleagues attentively as he tried to get a read on them. A piece of liquid steel slithered around and between his fingers, as if it were a living piece of quicksilver. It was a quirk he had developed whenever he mulled over something, as rare as it was for him to sit back and think. This was why he preferred being on his own. There was no one to argue with, no toes to step on. Things were just easier if he only had himself to worry about.
“You’re telling me,” he replied to his mentor as the steel lifted away from his fingers. Now floating above his palm, it began to take different shapes; a star, a sphere, a tiny knife, so on and so forth. He sighed and turned his steely eyes toward Nightwing.
“I’ll give them a chance. It’s the least I can do, since you did the same for me when you could’ve just as easily tossed my ass in jail.”He clenched his fist around the steel floating above his palm and slipped his hands into the pockets of his overcoat with a smirk.
“Besides, you promised me some good fights if I stuck with these guys. Gotta give you a chance to deliver on that, don’t I?”With that, he approached the group and asked,
“Everything good, now? Are we all best friends, again?”“Were we ever not?” Pei asked.
“Now c’mon, let’s scram, let’s look around, let’s get outta here!” Pei said, moving to the nearest door to see what was behind it. She opened it up and disappeared behind it as it shut.
“...It’s a closet!””Uh… Should we actually be running off yet?” Cora asked, looking to Wonder Woman. So far, she was the only person here that Cora actually knew, having thrown an entire thunderstorm at her, only to have it blocked by a sword.
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