Monday morning seemed rather bright.
It was about 10:00 AM, and the hallways of Metropolis High were filled with students in-between classes. As Diana walked up to her locker, she took a moment to look down the hallway to her left, taking in the rays of morning sunshine that swept in from the glass-walled front entrance to the school. She missed the constant sunshine of her island, and made sure to soak in as much of it as she could while living in the city.
As she turned back to her locker, she noticed Bart standing to her right, practically hiding in her shadow. He looked a little embarrassed, and more than a little uncomfortable. He kept his eyes on the floor, as though he didn't have the will to look her in the eye.
"Bart? Are you okay?" Diana asked.
"Yeah, um, I'm okay."
He took a silent deep breath and swallowed. "So... thanks, for yesterday. For not telling Bruce that I... that I lied."
Diana frowned concernedly at him. "Why did you lie to him?"
Bart winced a little at her question. "If I told you, it might be... really bad."
Diana gently put her hand under his chin and lifted his head up to look at her, giving him a genuinely caring smile. "Hey, you can tell me anything, alright?"
Bart blushed a little, and couldn't help but smile a little bit back at her. "Thanks."
He took a step backward out of embarrassment, and slipped back into his shameful persona. "But it's not that I don't trust you... it's just..."
Bart stopped in mid-sentence as he glanced down the hallway behind Diana, his eyes going wide with horror.
Diana instantly spun around to see what Bart was looking at, but saw nothing of out of the ordinary. Confused, she turned back to Bart, but he was gone.
Clark and Lois walked up to her. "Hey," Clark said, "was Bart here? I thought I heard him over here a second ago."
Diana, still looking down the hallway where Bart had once stood, took only a quick glance over to meet Clark and Lois's gaze. "Yeah, a second ago he was here. Then he ran after he saw something over—" she turned to look back down the hallway where Bart had been looking, but froze in mid-sentence.
Two young men, about sixteen years old, walked down the hallway, side-by-side. One was blonde, about 5'10'', and walked with the same gentle-yet-purposeful attitude that Clark did. He seemed very physically fit, somewhat like a baseball player.
The other boy was the same height, but brown-haired and far less proper. He was stereotypically handsome, like a 50s-era movie star. He walked with a somewhat arrogant swagger, carrying a brown bomber jacket over his shoulder.
As Diana saw the second boy, her eyes went wide with surprise before quickly squinting in anger. "YOU!" she yelled, stomping her booted feet as she walked towards him.
Lois and Clark, utterly confused, stood off to the side of the hall and watched the scene.
The dark-haired boy looked at Diana, and nearly jumped back in surprise. "Diana?!... What are you doing here?"
"Me?! What are YOU doing here?!"
The boy was obviously caught off-guard. His companion stood to the side, smirking at his friend's self-imposed misfortune. "I... go to school here now," the brown-haired boy awkwardly responded. Diana was relentless in her anger. "And WHY is that? Not enough girls in Coast City for you? You had to migrate to 'new fields?'"
Lois couldn't help but admire Diana's clever insult.
The boy hung his head a bit, and spoke gently. "Diana... I'm sorry..."
Diana wouldn't hear any of it. "Save it," she said, her words laced with a tinge of verbal venom. She turned and stormed away, leaving everyone else behind.
The boy sighed heavily, and leaned his head back in frustration.
The blonde boy humorously put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Nice job there, buddy."
Lois and Clark looked at one another with puzzled expressions, then walked over to the two newcomers. Lois was the first to speak. "So what'd you do to her, exactly?"
The brown-haired one responded with more than a hint of frustrated humor. "I'm her ex-boyfriend."
Clark and Lois both tilted their heads slightly backwards in an "Ah, so that's it" expression.
"Yeah... I think she mentioned you once or twice. So you're from Coast City?" Lois asked.
"Yeah. 'Name's Hal Jordan," he said, politely holding his hand out to her.
Lois just stared down at his hand, then raised an eyebrow as she looked back up at him. "Um... I'm on her side here. Sorry."
Clark rolled his eyes and moved to shake Hal's hand. "Nice to meet you, Hal. The snarky one is named Lois. Diana works with us for the school paper."
Hal nodded slightly in understanding. "Ahh... gotcha. This is Barry," he said, jabbing a thumb backwards toward his blond friend. "Hey," Barry said politely.
"We just transferred here from Coast City," Hal explained. "Had no idea she'd be here."
Lois's reporter instinct wouldn't let her stop asking questions. "So why are you here?"
"Wayne Aerospace has a pilots' program for young students over on the outskirts of the city. I take my pilot classes over there, and my normal classes here. I would've been here a month ago, but my transcripts... got lost along the way."
Barry chimed in. "More accurately, another one of his ex-girlfriends broke into the school office and burned his records."
Hal rolled his eyes and turned to Barry. "They never proved that she was the one who actually started that fire!"
Lois kept her snarky attitude focused. "Well, that'll make things pretty tough for you this semester, playing catch-up and all."
Hal turned to her. "It just takes a little willpower, Lois," he said, sending her a wink.
Lois almost blushed, but caught herself in time. "Damn! He's good at that..." she thought.
Clark looked at the clock on the wall, and remembered quickly that he had to get to class. "Well, if you guys need anything, let me know. I'd be happy to show you around sometime."
"Thanks," Barry said politely. "We'd better go, Hal. We don't wanna be late again."
"Sure," Hal acknowledged. "I'll see you guys later, I guess," he said to Lois and Clark as he walked toward his next class.
When Diana angrily opened the door to the Daily Star office—she barely remembered to be careful not to break it down—she found Bart sitting in her chair, his legs pulled up onto the seat and his arms around his knees. He looked like he'd just looked into the face of death itself.
Diana quickly forgot her anger towards Hal as she saw Bart's distress. "Bart! Are you okay?" she said as she ran across the room and crouched next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"That... that guy..." Bart said.
Diana was surprised. "Hal? What about him? What did he do?!"
Bart looked at her with frustrated confusion. "What? No. Not him. The other guy."
"The blond one?" Diana asked. "What about him?"
Bart looked her in the eyes. "He's my grandfather."
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Secret Files
After Bruce and Alfred were left alone in the penthouse, they went to work.
Long after WayneTech's employees had gone home for the night, Bruce took their place. In the darkness of night, Bruce sat in the building's main laboratory, staring intently at three water glasses on the table in front of him. Each of the glasses had, at some point, touched the lips of one of the super-powered teens that had been Bruce's guests earlier that night.
Once the chemical/DNA analysis was complete, Bruce copied the information to a flashdrive and erased all evidence of his presence.
Long after WayneTech's employees had gone home for the night, Bruce took their place. In the darkness of night, Bruce sat in the building's main laboratory, staring intently at three water glasses on the table in front of him. Each of the glasses had, at some point, touched the lips of one of the super-powered teens that had been Bruce's guests earlier that night.
Once the chemical/DNA analysis was complete, Bruce copied the information to a flashdrive and erased all evidence of his presence.
C:/Users/Bruce/Documents/*hidden folder*/metas.doc
Name: Allen, Bart
DOB: 06/15/1994
Height: 5'6''
Abilities:
Abilities:
Allen has the ability to accelerate his body to supersonic speeds, through means unknown. DNA analysis completely unreadable, due to the test sample vibrating at microscopic levels. It's possible that his DNA is somehow connected to an outside force that induces motion.
Bio:
A sophomore at Metropolis High School. Completely without any close acquaintances aside from Kent, Prince, and Lois. Lied about the origin of his abilities; must investigate further.
Name: Prince, Diana
DOB: 7/24/1993
Height: 5'10''
Height: 5'10''
Abilities:
Superhuman strength and flight. She also possesses the ability to discern truthfulness in others, though it is unclear whether this is based in psychological training or actual superhuman ability. Diana is also trained in a unique form of martial arts designed to block fast-moving projectiles, and can utilize her twin bracelets to deflect high-caliber bullets fired in rapid succession. Her prowess in this form of combat is such that she was able to subdue Floyd "Deadshot" Lawton, a notorious mercenary gunman.
Bio:
Lives with her mother, Helen Prince, and is a recent transfer to Metropolis High. Diana claims to have been born on the legendary Amazonian island of Themyscira, a claim consistent with the delusions of a psychotic mind. As of yet, her history (as well as the origin of her powers) remains unclear.
Several hours after initial separation from her body, the DNA in her saliva broke down and reorganized into basic minerals, with no apparent scientific explanation.
Name: Kent, Clark
DOB: 6/30/1993
Height: 6'2''
Height: 6'2''
Abilities:
Superhuman strength, durability, speed, and flight. He also claims to potentially have additional abilities that he is not yet aware of.
Bio:
Lives in Smallville, Kansas, and commutes to Metropolis High via either super-speed running or flight. Claims to be the sole survivor of an alien planet named "Krypton." No evidence has been shown to support this, though the obvious inhuman abilities he possesses certainly support this type theory.
DNA analysis confirms his non-human nature. Spectrum analysis of dead skin cells on the glass suggest a genetic "Achilles' heel," a weakness in his bodily structure to a highly specific type of radiation. This radiation could, in theory, cause cellular injury and eventual death. As of yet, no known way to replicate this radiation exists.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Super Friends
Diana and Clark rode the elevator up to Bruce's penthouse. They nervously glanced at one another, each giving the other the "oh boy" look.
The last time they'd been invited here, they were attacked by Luthor's hitmen and Bruce had flipped out on them. This time, they didn't know what horrors to expect.
"What's you guys' problem?" Bart rudely said, abruptly breaking the silence.
The elder two teens turned to him, and he suddenly felt as though he were being given "the eyebrow" by two older siblings at once.
The elevator bell dinged, and the doors slid open. Clark, Diana, and Bart stepped into the penthouse in awkward unison. Bart was dazzled by the luxury of the room, but he was smart enough—and shy enough—to keep himself quiet.
Alfred appeared from around the corner, wearing a wide smile as he greeted the guests. "Welcome, Master Kent, Miss Prince, Master Allen. Master Bruce and Miss Lane are in the—" Lois and Bruce walked in from the next room. "Ah, well here they are," Alfred finished.
Lois's face spread into a wide smile, and she happily ran over to meet her friends. She jumped up to give Clark a tight hug, which surprised just about everyone. Clark gave Bruce an awkward look over Lois's shoulder, but Bruce merely responded with a small grin and a shrug.
After making their greetings, the teens gathered in the living room, which had recently been made bulletproof, soundproof, and completely one-way mirrored. As the rest of the group sat down, Bruce stood in front of the bright window, his hands in his pockets. Facing the group, he stood silently for a moment. "The last time that most of you were here, I... overreacted. But you've proven yourselves to be trustworthy, and I want to offer my sincere apologies."
Bart halfway squinted his left eye at Bruce.
He's talking like we're business partners or something.
Clark made eye contact with Diana for a moment, then smiled, stood up, and walked over to Bruce with his right hand extended. "Apology accepted."
Bruce shook Clark's hand. "And... thank you—" he leaned around Clark's shoulder to look at Bart "—both of you, for what you did at the school."
Bart gave Bruce a quick upward nod. "Hey, no sweat."
"We were just glad we could help," Clark said.
Bruce moved to sit down in one of the black leather seats, and motioned for Clark to do the same. The chairs were arranged in a loose circle, allowing Clark, Diana, Bruce, Lois, and Bart to easily see each other. Alfred stood back by the side of the room, ready and waiting to answer any request.
Bruce began speaking to the group. "I called you all here because there are some things that we need to get out."
"Like what?" Diana asked.
"Like what exactly you can all do," Bruce said seriously, shifting his gaze between Clark, Diana, and Bart.
Clark decided to be open with Bruce. "Alright."
Bruce leaned forward a little. "From what I've seen, you're fast, strong, bulletproof, and can apparently defy gravity."
Clark nodded. "That's it, as far as I know."
Bruce's left eyebrow lifted. "As far as you know?"
Clark broke eye contact, unsure of exactly how to respond. "Well... I might have more abilities; I'm not sure. It's a long story."
Bruce wanted to roll his eyes. "Alright, then; who else knows about your abilities?"
Of this, Clark was certain. "Besides the people in this room, only my adoptive parents and a friend of mine back home in Smallville," Clark responded.
"Smallville?" Bart asked.
"Yeah, in Kansas."
"Oh, hey! I know that place! I ran through there once on one of my cross-country trips."
Diana was astounded. "You ran across the country?"
Clark leaned over to her a little. "It's not as hard as it sounds," he said very matter-of-factly.
Lois's brain would have normally been doing backflips at this point, but she was in a kind of starstruck daze that kept her perceptions of reality readily malleable. She mentally rolled over and accepted the truth of whatever the three super-teens felt like saying.
Bruce turned to Diana. "What about you?"
Diana casually shrugged. "The same as Clark, except for the speed. And I think he's stronger than I am..." She caught herself staring at Clark's arm muscles, which were somewhat visible through his shirt sleeves, and quickly shifted her gaze back to the center of the room. "Oh, and I can sense truthfulness in others."
Bart looked a little worried. "Wait, so... like... you can tell if someone's lying?"
"Yes," Diana politely responded.
Bart shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Bruce then turned to Bart with a suspicious eye. "And what can you do?"
Bart shrugged. "I dunno... I can run real fast, I guess."
"That it?" Bruce said, almost flippantly.
Bart slunk down in his chair a bit. "...yeah? I think?"
Bruce looked over at Diana, and she responded with a gentle nod: Bart was telling the truth.
Bruce moved his attention back to Bart. "I know he's an alien"—he pointed to Clark—"and she says she's an Amazon"—he pointed to Diana—"but what are you?"
Bart was feeling more and more squeamish under Bruce's interrogative gaze. "Uh... I'm just a guy. Not an alien or an Amazon or anything. Wait—WHO'S an alien and an Amazon?!?"
Clark and Diana looked at each other. Diana almost giggled. "Whoops... I guess we forgot to mention that. Sorry."
Bart was somewhere between starstruck and bewildered. His eyes were wide and he looked like he might faint out of shock.
Bruce was getting annoyed. "If you're a normal human being, how can you move that fast?"
Bart nearly gulped. He was clearly worried about something. "Well... uh... I was just out for a walk outside one day, and this lightning bolt came down right on top of me, and BAM! I could move like lightning."
Diana frowned at Bart's explanation. Bruce didn't buy it for a second. "I don't buy it," he said. Diana interjected, however. "It's not unheard of, actually. There are many tales of real heroes who were granted special power through events such as he describes."
Lois noticed that whenever Diana spoke of things relating to her Amazon heritage or the ancient world, she spoke very differently, as though she slipped into a different persona. Apparently, she thought, no one on Themyscira uses contractions.
Bruce once again felt like rolling his eyes.
Do ANY of these people make sense?!
"Alright; fine, then."
He straightened up a bit, and did his best to put on a personable face.
"I thought it'd be a good idea to get all that out in the open."
For the rest of the afternoon, the teens enjoyed themselves.
Lois and Diana—being the only girls in the group—went off in a corner by themselves to giggle alone and talk in whispers—until they realized that Clark could hear them from across the room.
Clark and Bart hung out on the couch and watched football on the massive flat-panel TV that sat above the penthouse's fireplace. They were quickly developing a big brother/little brother relationship, despite only having just met each other last week.
Bruce sat alone on a barstool at the kitchen counter, busy typing on his laptop. Clark invited him over to sit with them—twice—but Bruce assured him that he "had some work to take care of," and that they should "just ignore him."
Later that evening, as their get-together came to a close, Clark was the first to leave. He knew better than to overstay his welcome, and he was careful to be gracious and friendly as he left.
Bart moved to leave soon afterward—he didn't want to be stuck alone with Bruce and the chattering girls—but he was stopped by Diana, who gently pulled him aside.
Keeping her voice low, but staring him straight in the eyes, she asked, point-blank: "Why did you lie about where you got your powers?"
Bart's shoulders slumped down, and he sighed heavily. "It's... it's complicated. I really can't talk about it?"
"Why not?" She said firmly, not letting him slip away.
"Because!" he said, accidentally raising his voice a bit. After quickly looking back over his shoulder to make sure that Bruce and Lois didn't notice, he turned back to Diana. "...It'll mess everything up."
Diana sensed the truth in Bart's words this time, and slowly leaned back, letting her concern for him show on her face.
Bart took a step backwards from her, then shamefully walked to the elevator and left.
Lois kissed Bruce goodbye, and left as well. Diana began to walk towards the door, but stopped when Bruce called to her. "Diana. Would you stay for a minute?"
Curious and puzzled, she nodded and walked over to him. Once the elevator carried the others away, Bruce took a deep, quiet breath, let his head hang down a bit, shut his eyes, and prepared to explain himself.
"Nine years ago, my parents were murdered by a street thug in Gotham city with a gun."
Diana's eyes went wide with surprise, but then quickly softened with sympathy for him. "Oh, Bruce, I'm sorry; I didn't know."
Bruce stiffly shrugged. "It's not something that I tell a lot of people."
"Yeah..." Diana said, still feeling bad for him.
Bruce continued. "I've often thought that... perhaps, if I—or my father—had been prepared, my parents would both be alive."
Diana recognized what Bruce was feeling: survivor's guilt, something that was quite common among Amazon warriors. "Bruce, you can't make yourself think of the past that way; it's—"
"I'm not thinking of the past," he interrupted. "I'm thinking of the present."
Diana paused for a moment. "What do you mean?"
Bruce took a few seconds to gather his humility before speaking. "Last week, when Lois and I were taken captive... Lois was almost killed, exactly the same way that my mother was."
"That must have been horrifying... what happened?"
"Clark happened."
Diana smirked a little. "That sounds like him."
Bruce was not amused at Diana's obvious admiration for Clark. "I need to be able to protect myself."
"Bruce, there's nothing wrong with relying on a friend—"
Bruce interrupted her, his eyes burning with an anger that shone through his seemingly controlled demeanor. "I will NOT be left helpless. Not ever again."
Diana's heart swelled with compassion for him, but she was still not quite understanding what he was getting at. "So what does that have to do with me?"
"You were able to take down Deadshot, despite the thirty-seven bullets he fired at you, but you didn't mention enhanced hand-eye coordination as one of your powers. You didn't defeat him with your powers; you beat him with combat training."
Diana was starting to see where he was going with this. "Yes... that's true, to an extent. Amazons aren't much more coordinated than humans, we're just trained from childhood as warriors. Why do you ask?"
Bruce stared into Diana's eyes with a steel-forged resolve.
"Teach me."
The last time they'd been invited here, they were attacked by Luthor's hitmen and Bruce had flipped out on them. This time, they didn't know what horrors to expect.
"What's you guys' problem?" Bart rudely said, abruptly breaking the silence.
The elder two teens turned to him, and he suddenly felt as though he were being given "the eyebrow" by two older siblings at once.
The elevator bell dinged, and the doors slid open. Clark, Diana, and Bart stepped into the penthouse in awkward unison. Bart was dazzled by the luxury of the room, but he was smart enough—and shy enough—to keep himself quiet.
Alfred appeared from around the corner, wearing a wide smile as he greeted the guests. "Welcome, Master Kent, Miss Prince, Master Allen. Master Bruce and Miss Lane are in the—" Lois and Bruce walked in from the next room. "Ah, well here they are," Alfred finished.
Lois's face spread into a wide smile, and she happily ran over to meet her friends. She jumped up to give Clark a tight hug, which surprised just about everyone. Clark gave Bruce an awkward look over Lois's shoulder, but Bruce merely responded with a small grin and a shrug.
After making their greetings, the teens gathered in the living room, which had recently been made bulletproof, soundproof, and completely one-way mirrored. As the rest of the group sat down, Bruce stood in front of the bright window, his hands in his pockets. Facing the group, he stood silently for a moment. "The last time that most of you were here, I... overreacted. But you've proven yourselves to be trustworthy, and I want to offer my sincere apologies."
Bart halfway squinted his left eye at Bruce.
He's talking like we're business partners or something.
Clark made eye contact with Diana for a moment, then smiled, stood up, and walked over to Bruce with his right hand extended. "Apology accepted."
Bruce shook Clark's hand. "And... thank you—" he leaned around Clark's shoulder to look at Bart "—both of you, for what you did at the school."
Bart gave Bruce a quick upward nod. "Hey, no sweat."
"We were just glad we could help," Clark said.
Bruce moved to sit down in one of the black leather seats, and motioned for Clark to do the same. The chairs were arranged in a loose circle, allowing Clark, Diana, Bruce, Lois, and Bart to easily see each other. Alfred stood back by the side of the room, ready and waiting to answer any request.
Bruce began speaking to the group. "I called you all here because there are some things that we need to get out."
"Like what?" Diana asked.
"Like what exactly you can all do," Bruce said seriously, shifting his gaze between Clark, Diana, and Bart.
Clark decided to be open with Bruce. "Alright."
Bruce leaned forward a little. "From what I've seen, you're fast, strong, bulletproof, and can apparently defy gravity."
Clark nodded. "That's it, as far as I know."
Bruce's left eyebrow lifted. "As far as you know?"
Clark broke eye contact, unsure of exactly how to respond. "Well... I might have more abilities; I'm not sure. It's a long story."
Bruce wanted to roll his eyes. "Alright, then; who else knows about your abilities?"
Of this, Clark was certain. "Besides the people in this room, only my adoptive parents and a friend of mine back home in Smallville," Clark responded.
"Smallville?" Bart asked.
"Yeah, in Kansas."
"Oh, hey! I know that place! I ran through there once on one of my cross-country trips."
Diana was astounded. "You ran across the country?"
Clark leaned over to her a little. "It's not as hard as it sounds," he said very matter-of-factly.
Lois's brain would have normally been doing backflips at this point, but she was in a kind of starstruck daze that kept her perceptions of reality readily malleable. She mentally rolled over and accepted the truth of whatever the three super-teens felt like saying.
Bruce turned to Diana. "What about you?"
Diana casually shrugged. "The same as Clark, except for the speed. And I think he's stronger than I am..." She caught herself staring at Clark's arm muscles, which were somewhat visible through his shirt sleeves, and quickly shifted her gaze back to the center of the room. "Oh, and I can sense truthfulness in others."
Bart looked a little worried. "Wait, so... like... you can tell if someone's lying?"
"Yes," Diana politely responded.
Bart shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Bruce then turned to Bart with a suspicious eye. "And what can you do?"
Bart shrugged. "I dunno... I can run real fast, I guess."
"That it?" Bruce said, almost flippantly.
Bart slunk down in his chair a bit. "...yeah? I think?"
Bruce looked over at Diana, and she responded with a gentle nod: Bart was telling the truth.
Bruce moved his attention back to Bart. "I know he's an alien"—he pointed to Clark—"and she says she's an Amazon"—he pointed to Diana—"but what are you?"
Bart was feeling more and more squeamish under Bruce's interrogative gaze. "Uh... I'm just a guy. Not an alien or an Amazon or anything. Wait—WHO'S an alien and an Amazon?!?"
Clark and Diana looked at each other. Diana almost giggled. "Whoops... I guess we forgot to mention that. Sorry."
Bart was somewhere between starstruck and bewildered. His eyes were wide and he looked like he might faint out of shock.
Bruce was getting annoyed. "If you're a normal human being, how can you move that fast?"
Bart nearly gulped. He was clearly worried about something. "Well... uh... I was just out for a walk outside one day, and this lightning bolt came down right on top of me, and BAM! I could move like lightning."
Diana frowned at Bart's explanation. Bruce didn't buy it for a second. "I don't buy it," he said. Diana interjected, however. "It's not unheard of, actually. There are many tales of real heroes who were granted special power through events such as he describes."
Lois noticed that whenever Diana spoke of things relating to her Amazon heritage or the ancient world, she spoke very differently, as though she slipped into a different persona. Apparently, she thought, no one on Themyscira uses contractions.
Bruce once again felt like rolling his eyes.
Do ANY of these people make sense?!
"Alright; fine, then."
He straightened up a bit, and did his best to put on a personable face.
"I thought it'd be a good idea to get all that out in the open."
For the rest of the afternoon, the teens enjoyed themselves.
Lois and Diana—being the only girls in the group—went off in a corner by themselves to giggle alone and talk in whispers—until they realized that Clark could hear them from across the room.
Clark and Bart hung out on the couch and watched football on the massive flat-panel TV that sat above the penthouse's fireplace. They were quickly developing a big brother/little brother relationship, despite only having just met each other last week.
Bruce sat alone on a barstool at the kitchen counter, busy typing on his laptop. Clark invited him over to sit with them—twice—but Bruce assured him that he "had some work to take care of," and that they should "just ignore him."
Later that evening, as their get-together came to a close, Clark was the first to leave. He knew better than to overstay his welcome, and he was careful to be gracious and friendly as he left.
Bart moved to leave soon afterward—he didn't want to be stuck alone with Bruce and the chattering girls—but he was stopped by Diana, who gently pulled him aside.
Keeping her voice low, but staring him straight in the eyes, she asked, point-blank: "Why did you lie about where you got your powers?"
Bart's shoulders slumped down, and he sighed heavily. "It's... it's complicated. I really can't talk about it?"
"Why not?" She said firmly, not letting him slip away.
"Because!" he said, accidentally raising his voice a bit. After quickly looking back over his shoulder to make sure that Bruce and Lois didn't notice, he turned back to Diana. "...It'll mess everything up."
Diana sensed the truth in Bart's words this time, and slowly leaned back, letting her concern for him show on her face.
Bart took a step backwards from her, then shamefully walked to the elevator and left.
Lois kissed Bruce goodbye, and left as well. Diana began to walk towards the door, but stopped when Bruce called to her. "Diana. Would you stay for a minute?"
Curious and puzzled, she nodded and walked over to him. Once the elevator carried the others away, Bruce took a deep, quiet breath, let his head hang down a bit, shut his eyes, and prepared to explain himself.
"Nine years ago, my parents were murdered by a street thug in Gotham city with a gun."
Diana's eyes went wide with surprise, but then quickly softened with sympathy for him. "Oh, Bruce, I'm sorry; I didn't know."
Bruce stiffly shrugged. "It's not something that I tell a lot of people."
"Yeah..." Diana said, still feeling bad for him.
Bruce continued. "I've often thought that... perhaps, if I—or my father—had been prepared, my parents would both be alive."
Diana recognized what Bruce was feeling: survivor's guilt, something that was quite common among Amazon warriors. "Bruce, you can't make yourself think of the past that way; it's—"
"I'm not thinking of the past," he interrupted. "I'm thinking of the present."
Diana paused for a moment. "What do you mean?"
Bruce took a few seconds to gather his humility before speaking. "Last week, when Lois and I were taken captive... Lois was almost killed, exactly the same way that my mother was."
"That must have been horrifying... what happened?"
"Clark happened."
Diana smirked a little. "That sounds like him."
Bruce was not amused at Diana's obvious admiration for Clark. "I need to be able to protect myself."
"Bruce, there's nothing wrong with relying on a friend—"
Bruce interrupted her, his eyes burning with an anger that shone through his seemingly controlled demeanor. "I will NOT be left helpless. Not ever again."
Diana's heart swelled with compassion for him, but she was still not quite understanding what he was getting at. "So what does that have to do with me?"
"You were able to take down Deadshot, despite the thirty-seven bullets he fired at you, but you didn't mention enhanced hand-eye coordination as one of your powers. You didn't defeat him with your powers; you beat him with combat training."
Diana was starting to see where he was going with this. "Yes... that's true, to an extent. Amazons aren't much more coordinated than humans, we're just trained from childhood as warriors. Why do you ask?"
Bruce stared into Diana's eyes with a steel-forged resolve.
"Teach me."
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