[h3][center][color=pink]Pei[/color] and [color=00ffff]Cora[/color][/center][/h3]

	[center]talk about nothing in particular[/center]

[hr]


Two superheroines were being spirited away to their new life of adventure on a cutting edge Justice League jet. A sleek, modern design that was full of space on the inside and as capable as floating perfectly still in the air as it was going faster than the speed of sound. On the inside there were chairs bolted into the walls and a decent amount of free space in the middle.

	On one of these sides, seatbelt unbuckled, her hands crossed behind her head as she relaxed, was Pei Huo, the light-blue skinned girl who went by Iceburn. She was in her superhero uniform, the black base and pink highlighted cropped two-piece. Combined with her white and rainbow colored hair, she was kind of hard to miss.

	She cracked one eye open and looked at the other girl across the way. [color=pink]”Hey. Hey! I think I’ve left you alone long enough. Cora, right?”[/color] The two had had a brief introduction at the beginning of the flight. It was supposed to be a short flight, the Jet picking them up from separate locations then taking them to a base.

 Cora was staring out a window when the girl said something to her. She turned and looked at the girl who was dressed in a pretty cool costume like Cora. She had a huge two-tone wool coat on and a white helmet for hers. She was also wearing a thick pair of gloves that had pieces of metal sewn in to conduct electricity better. It was cozy. [color=00ffff]”Yeah, that’s me. So… Justice League. Crazy, right? You get struck by lightning and next thing you know, you’re way up here.”[/color] She took her helmet off and sat it in her lap. Cora’s eyes were solid blue, and part of her face looked burnt. [color=00ffff]”How’d you get here?”[/color]

	Pei probably would have disagreed about the ‘cool costume’ thing on Cora’s part. [color=pink]”Not Justice League. Young Justice.”[/color] She skipped out of her chair and strolled over to Cora, sitting down next to her. She rested her arm across the back of Cora’s seat and leaned in, not much for personal space apparently.

	[color=pink]”I was born a freak, I didn’t need to get hit by lightning. I bet everyone wishes they could get superpowers from crazy physical trauma. Bet there’d be a lot of people with Car powers, though.”[/color] She mused. 

	[color=pink]”That is, I [i]am[/i] assuming you got lightning powers. It’d be weird if you got, I dunno, spider powers from getting struck by lightning. What’s the word- incongruent?”[/color] She spoke with a slight Rhelasian accent, it sounded something like one of the other south east asian accents. 

[color=00ffff]”Probably “weird.” But uh, yeah, I got lightning powers. It’s cool- Wanna see?”[/color] She brought both of her hands up and leaned back a bit to put some space between them, when suddenly a glowing blue spark flickered in and out between her palms. It was about as thick as a pencil, and eventually turned into a solid arc that danced like fire.

[color=00ffff]”I got struck by lightning, so naturally I get lightning powers. That’s weird but it’s not that weird.”[/color] Because being struck by lightning and getting [i]anything[/i] totally isn’t weird.

	[color=pink]”I’d love for you to show me more!”[/color] Pei grinned. [color=pink]”Just keep in mind we are in an aircraft. If you blow a hole in the wall, I will probably die unless I grab you and use you as a cushion or something.”[/color] She said. She looked at the dancing arc between Cora’s hands.

	To match, she lifted up her palm and created a floating crystal of ice that appeared with a crackle. A thick white mist drifted from her pale hand. [color=pink]”I have ice powers! I didn’t get struck by ice though, like I said, I was born a freak. Although it [i]is[/i] possible I was dropped into an ice bath as a baby or something.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”Okay, that’s pretty co- awesome.”[/color] Cora stared at the little misty cloud curiously. [color=00ffff]”Oh yeah, I can fly too. Well- Kinda. You know how when you run electricity through a wire, it makes a magnetic field? I can do that to myself and float off the ground like I’m a wizard or somethin’”[/color] Cora sounded southern. She was from Florida, after all. [color=00ffff]”I’m not real good at it or anything, but I can jump over buildings with it!”[/color]

	[color=pink]”It [i]is[/i] cool.”[/color] Pei responded. [color=pink]”A single bound, huh? How high we talking?”[/color] She flattened her hand and moved it up and down, making several notches in the air to represent height. 

[color=00ffff]”Something like uhh… A hundred feet maybe? I dunno, I jumped over my house a couple times and it’s got two floors. Landed like a rock but I didn’t break anything. It’s like I just ignore a part of gravity, sort of. Problem is I can’t stay that high up. I float back down, but I don’t actually touch the floor. It’s weird.”[/color]

	[color=pink]”So…your house is two storeys and a hundred feet tall? Or are you just guessing that’s how high you can go?”[/color] Pei asked, tilting her head to the side. 

[color=00ffff]”Just guessing.”[/color] She shrugged. 

	[color=pink]”So you’ve never done it before. Well, whatever- as long as you’ve zapped bad guys before it’ll all work out.”[/color] Pei pat Cora on the shoulder with gusto.

[color=00ffff]”Welllll… Not yet.”[/color] Cora said, laughing a little. [color=00ffff]”I only got zapped a month ago, haven’t had a chance to zap another person aside from Wonder Woman yet, and that didn’t really do anything.”[/color]

	Pei looked at Cora intently. [color=pink]”As long- as long! As you have done anything ever in your whole life [i]besides[/i] getting struck by lightning, you’ll be fine.”[/color] She said, happily setting the bar as low as possible so Cora could step over it. 

That prompted an outburst of laughter from Cora. Which in turn widened Pei’s smile. [color=00ffff]”Yeah! Okay- Okayokay that works. Yeah, I’m halfway there already! I knew I could count on me!”[/color] Pei seemed pretty cool. Cora liked her already. [color=00ffff]”What about you? Ever freeze any bad guys yet?”[/color]

	[color=pink]”The thing about actually freezing people is that they die [i]fucking instantly.[/i]”[/color] Pei clarified. 

[color=pink]”But I [i]have[/i] encased them in ice. Or stuck them onto walls. I can make my ice not that cold and put air holes in it, so I can put them in cubes like in the cartoons. See their little eyes looking around like ‘Aah oh noo I’m stuck’ it’s great.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”That’s cool, I’d probably just electrocute them. Did you know that if you zap someone hard enough they stop breathing? There’s this muscle around your lungs that pulls in air. It spasms if it gets shocked bad enough. They might stop breathing anyway if you shock them, but that’s how tasers work!”[/color] Cora was… A bit of a nerd for stuff like that. 

[color=pink]”Dark!”[/color] Pei said cheerfully. [color=pink]”I didn’t know the specifics, but I assumed that-”[/color] She slapped her hands together violently several times. [color=pink]”-If you shoved enough electricity into someone they die. Or, I guess, in your case, get superpowers! You ever worry you might give someone superpowers? Well I guess you wouldn’t know since you haven’t tried it on anyone yet. No time like the present to find out, though!”[/color] Pei said with a nod. She was still smiling in her assertively friendly way. 

[color=00ffff]”I could probably just burn a hole through someone instead. A lightning strike is as hot as the surface of the sun. Hardly anyone ever gets hit by a bolt of lightning, and usually the ones who do have to learn how to walk again, or something else happens that changes their life. Normally they don’t just die, but uhhh… It’s possible. I can’t blast anyone like [i]that[/i] but I can still probably put them out since, y’know, it’s [i]lightning[/i] and all that.”[/color]

Pei nodded rapidly. Whenever she spoke, she typically spoke with her hands. In this case she stuck both her hands out and pinched the air, slowly pulling her arms back in over and over again, as if to demonstrate the concept of ‘restraint.’ [color=pink]”Generally- geeenerally want to avoid putting holes in people. What makes us special is the power to subdue without harming. So in general tazing will be MORE than enough, right? Hey, listen, we’re both gonna be the new girls on the block.”[/color] She switched gears.

Now she set her arm across Cora’s shoulders entirely, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially. Which made Cora give her the shifty eyes for a second. [color=pink]”You and me. Blood pact. We look out for each other. I can guide you and help you, being an experienced superhero myself. And you can- you can- well, I’m sure we’ll figure that out, that’s why I’m here to guide you! What do you say? Do you have a knife on you so we can cut our hands and slap ‘em together?”[/color]


[color=00ffff]”Heh. Sure. But… I ain’t got a knife. Can you make one out of ice or something? Actually that sounds painful. Uhhh… Let’s just promise to do it without blood?”[/color]

	[color=pink]”Fine, fine, we’ll settle for second best.”[/color] Pei raised her other hand and clenched it into a fist. With the exception of her pinky, which she extended in a hook. 

Cora wrapped her gloved pinky finger around Pei’s and a sacred pact was formed. [color=00ffff]”It’s official now.”[/color]

Pei’s grin, somehow, widened even more. [color=pink]”Pinky pact.”[/color] Then she sniffed. She did it a couple more times and leaned in more, like she was trying to identify the scent of Cora’s perfume or something. 

Cora looked at her with a bit of confusion. [color=00ffff]”It's static. My powers are weird.”[/color] Totally natural for a girl to smell like the screen of a tv from the 90s. Totally.

[color=pink]”Ssstatic?”[/color] Pei asked. Then it clicked. [color=pink]”Oh, static! That’s what the TV at the orphanage smelled like!”[/color] She pulled away, laughing. [color=pink]”Hey, look. When we walk into a room together, we’ll make each other look less weird by comparison. Or maybe more weird. Either way is good, right?”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”I hope so. I mean, I’m already kind of weird. Well, not that weird. I mean- I’m pretty lucky compared to other people that get zapped by lightning but I’m perfectly normal.”[/color]

[color=pink]”Mmm? Mmm?”[/color] She made a pair of high pitched, unsure noises. [color=pink]”Mmm.”[/color] That last one was sure. [color=pink]”You’re pretty weird. Glowing blue eyes, two-toned face, smell like TV static, the hair.”[/color] She gestured to each part in turn.

[color=pink]”The outfit. No offense.”[/color] She said, her hands up placatingly.

[color=pink]”I mean I haven’t even been able to make eye contact with you this whole time. I’m just guessing. Might settle just for staring here-ish.”[/color] She pointed at the space between Cora’s eyes. 

Cora responded to that by looking Pei directly in the eyes. [color=00ffff]”You can’t see it right now, but I’m making eye contact with you right now. Staaaaare.”[/color] And stare she did. [color=00ffff]”By the way, you aren’t that weird. I mean- There’s a guy in the Justice League who’s from Mars. [i]That’s[/i] weird.”[/color]

[color=pink]”That’s space racism!”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”It’s superhuman racism if we’re weird!”[/color]
[color=pink]”We are weird, though.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”I don’t think you’re weird. I think you’re [i]cool.”[/i][/color]

[color=pink]”I am cool. I am the cool[i]est.[/i]”[/color] Pei admitted. [color=pink]”But nonetheless unusual.[/color]

[color=00ffff]”That’s what makes you cool! You’re [i]literally[/i] cool too. It’s cool to have superpowers and say “FREEZE” when you freeze somebody!”[/color] She exhausted the word “cool” and then added, [color=00ffff]”Right before I zap a motherfucker.”[/color]

[color=pink]”So you’re going to say freeze and then electrify them?”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”No I’d probably say something like, “You’re in for a SHOCK today!” And then zap them.”[/color]

[color=pink]”Because the idea of ‘freeze’ is that you give them a chance to surrender first. I can’t just use that interchangeably with a one liner.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”You absolutely could, though. It’s your power, make as many interchangeable one liners as you want, and don’t let anybody stop you.”[/color]

She looked at Cora quizzically. [color=pink]”No, I’m being serious.”[/color]

One of Cora’s oddly non-snow white eyebrows went up. [color=00ffff]”About the surrender part? Yeah, I get that. I mean the jokes though. All the actually interesting heroes have tons of one liners. That’s why Batman [i]sucks.”[/i][/color]

[color=pink]”You’re trying too hard and your hubris is showing.”[/color] She said flatly, letting the silence afterwards hang for a moment.

[color=pink]”...And besides, Batman has the coolest one liner ever. He only needs one.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”Yeah? What is it?”[/color]

[color=pink]”’I’m Batman.’”[/color] Pei said.

[color=00ffff]”…Know what? Point. That’s pretty good.”[/color]

[color=pink]”My name is already a pun, anyway. Iceburn.”[/color] She turned so Cora could see the back of her black top, the encircled symbol that looked like both ice crystals and fire. 

[color=00ffff]”Oh… That looks really cool. Okay- I know I’m saying that a lot right now but really. I like that.”[/color]

[color=pink]”Thank you, thank you. It’s because my ice can explode if I want to. It might be a [i]little[/i] mean but I’m happy with it. It was either that or Snowdrop! If I ever decide kicking ass isn’t for me anymore I’ll fall back on that one. What about you? Right away I look at you and think: Bright-Eyes. Or Static Shock! I think that one might be taken, though.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”Mine is Enceladus, because when I use my powers, it’s really bright, like a flash of lightning.”[/color] She said, assuming this girl had any idea what the name even meant.

[color=pink]”Run that by me again?”[/color] Pei asked, turning and cupping her ear towards Cora.

[color=00ffff]”Enceladus. Like- The moon of Saturn? Brightest object in the sky that isn’t the sun?”[/color]

[color=pink]”...That’s kind of a deep cut to center your entire brand around. Is your target audience astronomers?”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”No, it just fits. It’s a really bright object in the sky, I can [i]fly[/i] and I shoot bolts of lightning at people that happen to be stupid bright. Make sense?[/color]

Pei was acting like she was trying to be careful around someone who still believed in Santa Claus. [color=pink]”...Do you like planets and moons and stuff?”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”Yeah, actually I do. I’m a space nerd.”[/color]

[color=pink]”Well, that’s all that matters.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”Yep! So- How’d you get here? Wonder Woman heard about me and came looking for me, and that’s how I got here. Did someone catch you roughing up bad guys or something?”[/color]


That was when they got the notification- they were at the base that had the teleporter- said teleporter was to take them straight to the island that they would be spending the next stint of their careers.


[color=pink]”All right! From the bus, to the jet, to the teleporter. I hope they have a unicycle when we get there!”[/color] Pei said excitedly. 

[color=00ffff]”Yeah! Look out world, the weirdos are comin’!”[/color]