81Hello Everyone,
Please your thoughts and suggestions on the reviews. My beta, PhantomPrince has been working fabulously on the story. He has done some great work in this particular chapter too. Please do show him some love in his story by checking it out and maybe leave a review in his story, saying Aki sent you! xD
I hope you guys enjoy this update of Justice Academy. Enjoy!
Year One: Justice Tournament - Enter the Contenders!
On the other side of the mountain was the completely renovated Justice Academy. It had taken quite a bit of manpower to repair in just two weeks, but it went much quicker when one considered that several of the metahumans who had gone into construction had had their lives saved by a member of the Justice League, they had no shortage of workers willing to help at a discount.
Within the Academy grounds, students were rushing about, doing their allotted jobs. Some were cleaning the school of the various scorch marks and cracks that were the natural result of having so many metahumans on campus, while others oversaw the hanging of decorations to welcome the other schools.
Others…others were preparing for combat.
It was time for the Justice Tournament.
Safely ensconced within the Team Room, six would-be heroes were getting ready for their mission. Laurel and Kara were separated from the rest, changing into their Tournament outfits, while Oliver tapped his foot just outside the changing room door.
The emerald archer wasn't dressed in his normal combat outfit; instead he was wearing a variation of the traditional Tournament outfit; essentially a blue full body jumpsuit with the letters JA emblazoned on the chest in white. Every student got a variation on the basic outfit to suit their needs, but Oliver had not gotten permission to put a hood on his, to his frustration and everyone else's amusement.
"Guys, we don't have a lot of time." He said impatiently. "We only have an hour until the other teams get here." His fingers ran over his bow, testing to make sure he could draw it easily and quickly from the new holster on his back. Stupid Tournament outfits…
Oliver heard something go thump within the changing room, and Laurel cursing. A grin curled its way onto Oliver's face at the familiar sound. "We'll be out in a minute! No delays from this end." Laurel called out.
The archer rolled his eyes fondly and walked away from the door to where Barry, Ray and Donna were seated. Laid across the table between them were paper records of the last fourteen Tournaments and its participants, which they had rigorously studied over the past several days. Searching for the information online would've been easier, but there was always the possibility of one of the other teams hacking in and seeing the suspicious amount of preparation they were doing on what was supposed to be a friendly competition.
"Alright guys let's go over the plan from the start." Oliver said, looking over to Barry who nodded disappeared in a flicker of lighting. The teenager quickly returned with a whiteboard and a marker, on which he quickly separated into four sections.
"Okay… Over the tournament, we have four schools. Justice Academy, the Lantern Scouts, the Magic Society and finally, the Legend. Each school is bringing in one team, each with four people and two substitutes. Now, as per our information, we know one of the four teams is really a batch of infiltrators who have something huge planned for the event finale. Luckily for us, we have two events, Combat and Deduction, before we get to the Team Battle."
"So basically," Kara yelled from the dressing room, "We're Gryffindors, and we need to find out who the Slytherins are."
"What about the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws?" Barry asked his girlfriend through the wall.
"When have they ever mattered?"
A round of suppressed snickers rose from the group, except for Donna and Oliver. "I don't get it." She said blankly, and Ray laughed openly, making her glare at him.
"Can we please get back to the matter at hand?" Oliver groused.
Ray nodded and stepped ahead to take the proverbial baton as silence fell again. "You, Ollie..." Oliver gave him a brooding look as Ray corrected himself, "Umm... Oliver, Laurel and Kara will be the team members while we act as substitutes and side members, as per our agreement with the teachers."
Everyone gave an agreeing nod as Barry continued, "For today's combat challenge, we are going two on two against the other teams. Today's motive it to monitor the contesting teams. Look out for anything suspicious. Ray will be with the visiting teams checking on the bystanders, while Donna will be with the idle team members, seeing if she could find any clues. Oliver and I will be checking on the active team members..."
"And we will take care of the ones facing us." Kara finished as Kara and Laurel, dressed in the Justice Academy battle gear as they walked out of the changing room. Laurel's outfit was unarmoured, to allow for faster movement, and appeared sleek. Oliver quickly scanned the outfit Laurel was wearing an turned away, a slight blush on his face.
Barry was a little bit more indiscreet about his appreciation, and from the look that Kara was giving him, she clearly appreciated how he looked in his Tournament outfit as well. After all, this isn't Kara's normal look...
Not that she wanted that to happen or anything…
Oliver coughed into his hand, both to alleviate some of his embarrassment and to draw attention back to himself. "By the end of the day, we will meet back here and share any and all information we managed to gather. Understand?"
Everyone gave a solemn nod as Oliver reached for his training suit pocket, taking out the comms and placing it in the centre of the table, "We will use this only if there are any important leads. Until then, no one finds out about our mission."
The rest of the team stepped forward as they picked up the devices and slipped them in their ears. They were higher tech than was standard, as was necessary given communication devices were banned so that competitors couldn't be given an unfair advantage by having someone in the audience give a different perspective.
"Any questions?" Oliver prompted.
Donna stepped in and asked, "Do we have anything in particular that we need to look out for?" Oliver had been rather quiet on what his source had said, as well as who they were.
Laurel answered her question, "Well, for now… with our information, we know that the team we're looking for will be unusually powerful. Secondly, it's a visiting team."
Donna frowned. That was not a lot of information, but it would have to do. She nodded, accepting the limited amount of knowledge. They would have to work with what they had.
Kara summed things up as she said, "Remember guys… Our priority is to save our friends. Anything happens, we focus on that."
Everyone nodded, looks of solid determination on their faces, and started walking towards the exit. It was time for the Tournament to begin.
As the rest of them walked out, Laurel pulled on Oliver's hand as she asked him, "Ollie… Can I talk to you alone?" Oliver gave her a curious look, but stayed behind and let the others walk out, leaving the two in the room by themselves.
Oliver shuffled awkwardly, and his eyes dropped from Laurel to the ground. "So…what's up?" He tried to ask casually.
Laurel frowned at his hesitant behaviour. Oliver was hardly ever anything but perfectly confident, except when it came to the various problems that came with their relationship. So, he must know what this was about. "You…you were going to say something to me before you got attacked. What was it, Ollie?"
"Oh. That." Oliver tugged at his collar, something he hadn't done in years. "It's nothing important. I just…I wanted to say…" He swallowed, and his eyes briefly flickered up to hers. "I love you, Laurel."
It was a heartfelt moment.
It was a romantic moment.
It was a lie.
But if Oliver didn't want to tell her what he had been going to say, then nothing in heaven or earth would force him to say it. She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you too, Ollie. Just…remember that I'm here for you."
Oliver hugged her back fiercely, burying his face in her hair. "I know…I really do." He moved back and offered her a gentle, awkward smile. "Now go out and kick some ass."
Laurel smiled back at her boyfriend and gave him a chaste peck on the cheek as they walked out. Their hands dangled near one another but didn't touch.
Meanwhile, as Ray, Donna, Kara and Barry walked out, Ray and Donna looked at the stadium setup and looked at Barry and Kara, giving a nod and left to join the huge crowd of onlookers in the seating area.
With it just being Kara and Barry standing outside the entrance to the contenders' area, Kara reached out for Barry's hand as she said, "I'm worried, Barry."
Barry interwove his fingers with hers and turned towards his girlfriend. "Really? Why?"
Kara sighed and expressed her concern, "I'm just worried that we won't be able to earn back the trust of our classmates back. The trainers managed to get us into the Tournament for our mission, but that just made people angrier at us. Even if we do succeed…none of them will trust us."
Barry nodded, understanding her concerns. They had been plaguing him as well. "Look Kara… I know the past two week have been hard… But, the reason we got ourselves away from everyone was to ensure that even if we were the targets, no one else gets hurt." He paused a bit and said, "My mom used to say something when people in my school used to bully me… She said that, no matter what happens in life, we have to keep our head straight. If we're honest and true, eventually the world will see us for who we are."
Kara, with a tear and a smile, leaned closer as she whispered, "Funny thing, I remember my mom saying something along the same lines...Except, you know, in Kryptonese."
Barry, with a grin, leaned closer as he said, "Well, both were amazing moms." The two got closer as the passer-by students watched with a cringing look on their face. A few even made gagging sounds.
Barry and Kara's faces were only a few inches away from one another when they heard a cough. The two jumped away from each other and looked over to see Laurel with an amused look on her face. "If you have time for hooking up I assume you're ready to fight, Kara?"
Kara and Barry, now several feet away from one another, nodded in unison. They would have looked professional if not for all the blood in their faces.
Barry zipped over to stand by Oliver, while Laurel sauntered over to stand by the still red-faced Kara.
"All the best, girls." Oliver said, smirking at his speedster friend. "Show them that Justice Academy is the best." He elbowed Barry.
"Uh, yeah." Barry got out. "Go kick some butt." He smiled at Kara, and she smiled back. The two began to walk away and Kara turned to wave at Barry. The speedster waved back with a goofy grin on his face until Oliver once again elbowed him.
"Do you want to head over to the team bystander areas, or do you want to keep watching Kara walk away?" Oliver teased mercilessly. Barry's face quickly went from merely warm to supernova, even as he guiltily averted his eyes.
"Bystander area." Barry got out reluctantly.
Sometime later, Justice tournament Arena,
The arena was packed as cameras were monitoring over the whole arena. With the event being completely televised, all the trainees were in their uniforms, advertising for their schools. From the aerial view, it was visible very distinctively where each school was. A purple side for the Magic Society, A Rainbow coloured side for Lantern Scouts, A bright White side for Legend and a black side for Justice Academy.
Suspended high above the fighting areas was a commentary box that held two of the…more responsible trainees from the competing schools. They had all found out the hard way that having blatantly biased commentators could really ruin an event after two of the commentators in the tenth Tournament had come to blows.
"Heroes of the caped, cowled and armoured persuasions, I would like to wish you a warm welcome to this, the fifteenth edition of…The Justice Tournament! This is your handsome commentator from ARGUS, Miles Crook, who'll be keeping you company all day." The young trainee called into the mike as his fellow commentator continued.
"And Jayden Hawk, arguably even more handsome, from the Legends. As per history, we start off by thanking every one of you viewers across the globe for your support. Special mention to our sponsors… Wardrobe Sponsor, Aki Designs." The second trainee followed up as hooters were audible around the stadium. Aki made not only civilian clothing, but also the Tournament outfits for the Justice Academy as well.
"Jayden, what do you think of this year's tournament? After all, we are at the 15th edition. There were some people who thought that none of the schools would make it this far." Miles started off, grinning at his fellow commentator.
"It's marvellous how far along the tournament has gone. And this year, the hosts, Justice Academy, have done a fabulous job at getting the event off to a good start, despite their recent track history." Jayden commented excitedly.
"I know, right? As for the historical event, we have been estimated to have the most attendance for any of the editions. As we know, the previous year champions, the Lantern Scouts have never been short on firepower, but this year they've apparently put work into their member selections. Meanwhile, the Magic Society have nearly tripled their members, and there are rumours of a magical prodigy in their ranks. As for the Legends…well, I don't think I'm very biased when I say that we've really made progress on our combat and support tech."
"As for our hosts… Well, their pick for this year is very controversial, given the team is one with completely new members and all the players have never participated in previous tournaments. What do you think will happen, Miles?"
"Well, I don't think the team is completely out of the competition. I mean, as much as I have heard… the Academy has gone through some radical changes in the past few weeks, including the rescinding of an old rule."
"That is some juicy gossip, my friend, but let us not forget why we're here. Today, we get to watch some of our best would-be heroes smack each other around, and look good doing it." Jayden cheered. Below, the crowd roared in approval.
"Well, the thing about the combat challenge is that there can never be a clear winner. Speaking off, to all our new viewers, today's challenge will be the Combat Challenge."
"This challenge is purely set based on physical strength and fighting styles. For the initial phase, the four teams would face off in a sudden death match. For this year our defending champions, the Lantern Scouts, will face off against Magic Society while the hosts, Justice Academy, will be going up against the Legend. The winners of those two matches would face off against each other for the first and second positions while the two losing teams would face off for the third and fourth positions."
"Throughout the tournament, the team on the first place gets a surprise advantage and the one on the last place, unfortunately, would be sitting out the rest of the tournament."
The cheering in the arena becomes loud as two teams got over to the centre of the arena, a vast expanse of concrete enclosed with multiple forcefields to prevent anything from hitting the crowd.
On one side of the arena were the Lanterns, one wearing a red ring and the other a green one. As attention turned to them, the two powered up and were covered in auras of their respective colours.
On the one side is two lanterns. One in green and one in red. On the other side is two more people. One in silhouettes and one in what looks like a magician's outfit...one that many of the guys in the crowd clearly appreciated.
"We are about to start our first face-off between the Lanterns and Magic Society!"
Hooters begin to ring as the match commences. As the match began, Ray and Donna found their places in the team resting places.
As the match started, the two announcers began to discuss details.
"Who do you feel would win his match, Jayden?" Miles asks through the microphone. Neither had any stakes in this particular match, but both were very well informed, as was their jobs.
"Well, Lanterns are known to be best with the combat portion of the tournament, due to the raw power they bring to the table, and the defending Champions are often undefeated for the first two matches. Plus, the inclusion of Red Lanterns in their team is supposed to have boosted their chance." Jayden commented as the referee is briefing the contestants.
"We can't dismiss the Magic Society too. They are the known to be smart and cunning, as their magic often lacks the brute power of more traditional superpowers. Their advantage this season would be their line-up of powered contenders. That's something they can turn into an advantage." Miles responded as the Contestants get into their positions.
"With that, our contestants are briefed, and the referee has given the green signal. It's time for the face-off! The first person to be knocked to the floor will be eliminated and will be moved to the loser bracket." Both the commentator were fidgeting in their seats, obviously eager.
Meanwhile in the arena, the two teams sent their preferred member forward. The girl in the magician's outfit stepped forward, her heels clicking on the stone floors. The Red Lantern meanwhile decided to expend the extra energy to float forward and gave the girl an insincere smile.
"You're gonna be crushed, brunette! Magic is nothing against the power of rage." The Red Lantern taunted with a smirk.
The magician, a young woman named Zatanna, brushed an invisible speck of dust off of her lapel and returned the Lantern's smirk back at him. "Talk is cheap, darling. I prefer to let my actions speak for me."
The Red Lantern had the advantage in both strength and speed, and he put them to good use. He was off like a shot, zooming towards the magic user even as she stood still, her face carefully blank. Just as he was about to reach her position, a series of words tumbled from her lips and she jumped out of the way, covering an impossible amount of distance in a blink.
The Red Lantern gaped in surprise, then a sneer formed on his face. He forgot that magicians could enhance their physical abilities, but he was still more powerful than some paltry magician.
The match quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse, with the Red Lantern chasing Zatanna around the space of the arena, often only missing by a hair's breadth before Zatanna would land on the other side of the arena.
"What do you think about Zatanna's strategy, Miles? She seems to be trying to wear him out." Jayden commented. The crowd held their breath as the Red Lantern nearly landed a hit on the girl, only for her to once again make her escape.
"I don't know, Jayden." Miles said hesitantly. "The power and energy that a Red Lantern can muster is directly linked to the amount of rage they're feeling, and this one is looking pretty angry. I can't say I'm a fan of this manoeuvre."
"Especially since he's getting better." Jayden commented grimly.
It was true. The Red Lantern was nearly in a berserker rage at this point, but his attacks were getting more accurate, his movements quicker, all fuelled by his ring.
Finally, Zatanna slipped up. When she landed, she twisted her ankle, and fell to the ground. A manic grin spread across the Red Lantern's face as the red haze around him grew.
Filled with anger at being taunted and a lust for victory, the Lantern ran faster towards her, but when he was inches away from Zatanna, she disappeared into thin air, leaving only a cloud of dust. Unable to stop his immense momentum, the Red Lantern careened forward, and slammed into the forcefield with a loud bzzzerk. Knowing that such a slip was more painful for the Lantern's pride than to his head, the audience roared with laughter and approval.
Zatanna reappeared on the other end of the arena, completely unharmed. She chuckled as she watched the Red Lantern slowly get back to his feet, his crimson aura flickering erratically as he rubbed his head and glared at his opponent.
The referee blew the whistle. "Winner: Zatanna, from Magic Society!"
"And in a twist, Magic Society have won the game!" Jayden called out with excitement. People in the crowd were losing their minds, and the purple division of the Magic Society were all cheering ecstatically.
"This is historic. The Defending Champions have never been defeated in so quickly a manner." Miles reciprocated with the same excitement.
Over on the backside, Barry and Oliver looked looked over the team member's dugouts when the ground began to sway underneath Barry's feet. Unable to help himself, he fell to the ground, holding his head in pain at a sudden headache pounding away at his temples.
"Ahh…" Barry calls out. He seemed to be trembling, and his body seized up, as if something was stabbing though something was stabbing through his body. Just as quickly as it came, it was gone, leaving Barry panting and feeling…drained.
Oliver was at his friend's side immediately. "Barry? What happened?"
"Something…something's happening." Barry gasped. His healing should be kicking in, but it was sluggish to respond. A horrifying possibility suddenly occurred to him. "I think my power is draining."
"Guys, is everything alright?" Ray's voice asked from the coms in their ears.
Oliver raised a hand to his own coms to respond. "Barry seems to not be feeling well." He understated. "You all stay here and monitor the teams. I'll take him out and see if some fresh air does him good."
"Copy that." Donna responded. "I'll make sure that Ray pays- Ray, pay attention!"
Oliver pulled Barry to his feet and let the man lean against him. Even as they stumbled out, another seizure struck Barry's body, and he could feel his power drain away. "Barry?" Oliver asked. "Are you alright?"
Barry swallowed his pain and nodded. "Just fine." He said through gritted teeth.
Meanwhile, beside Ray and Donna,
"What do you think? Anything suspicious?" Ray asked Donna as they are keeping their look on the crowd.
Donna kept her eyes all around as she responded, "I don't think so… There aren't any suspicious movement around the team members that I can see. What about you?"
Ray shook his head, then realized he probably needed to answer with words. "Nothing over here in the Bystanders. If there is something suspicious, I don't think we can find it here."
Donna pondered his words for a second and continued, "We have to keep an eye out." She said seriously.
Ray gave Donna an offended look. "What makes you think that I won't keep an eye out? We do have a job to do."
Donna rolled her eyes and pointed to the display that showed pictures of the next contestants. If Zatanna got attention from the male members of the audience, it was nothing compared to the sudden razor focus applied to Kara and Laurel. "It appears that most of you males have trouble paying attention when beautiful women are involved."
Ray moved his eyes from the two heroines in the arena to the Amazonian woman beside him, whose eyes were still trained on the crowd. Despite the seriousness of their mission, he smiled. "Yeah, well…I have some experience working around those."
Over by the stands,
Kara and Laurel walked onto the field, surrounded by sounds of both approval and disapproval that they did their best to block out for different reasons. They were able to get onto the field quicker because neither had any armour or weapons that they needed to retrieve. Laurel sent a concerned glance at her friend, noticing how she was putting on a stalwart expression after hearing about Barry's emergency.
"So, Kara…what's happening with you and Barry?" Laurel asked suddenly. She had noticed throughout the past few weeks that things had been…slightly off between the two, and the topic worked as well as any to get Kara's mind off Barry's condition and off the impending match.
Kara blushed slightly. "We…we've been taking some time off…sort of."
Laurel's eyes widened, and she was about to say something when Kara cut in frantically. "Not like a breakup! It's just…we've been spending so much time together lately, training and hanging out but…" She struggled to find the words.
"Seems like he's holding something back? Like part of him is somewhere else?" Laurel filled in, her own worries temporarily spilling out. Kara gave her a knowing look, and Laurel hesitated before nodding shortly.
"I'm just hoping that by the time we're done with this mission we'll have everything sorted out." Kara remarked.
"Nothing bonds people together quite like life-or-death situations." Laurel agreed.
The other team finally walked onto the field, a man in a trench coat and a dusky woman wearing both armour and wielding a mace. "You ready?" Laurel asked Kara.
Kara took a deep breath through her nose. While for others such an action would be about getting more oxygen, for Kara it was a delicate exercise in control to not let the smell of everything bring her to the ground as they used to. It was a reminder that she had progressed, that she was stronger. "I think we've come too far for me to say no." Kara responded simply.
Kara and the girl with the mace stepped forward, showing themselves to be the chosen competitors. Kara nodded to her opponent, and the girl gave back a dazzling smile.
"Good luck," The girl called across the arena. "I'm looking forward to this battle."
Kara raised an eyebrow. The other girl seemed to be genuine, and actually wanted a good fight. Too bad Kara had to beat her. "Good luck to you as well." Kara called over.
Up in the Commentary box, the announcers were still running on the high of the previous fight, and quickly started detailing the situation.
"Alright, alright, alright, we are here for our second match of the day. Winner from this match will go for the match with Magic Society to receive the first advantage." Jayden explained.
"And sadly, the loser will go on to the elimination fight against the Lantern Corps. With that, we will be left with only three teams for the competition in the end of the day." Miles elaborated further.
"How do you feel about the prospects for this match, Miles?" Jayden responded to his partner.
"This… This is going to be an interesting battle. The Legends are known to be an underdog team, with unorthodox styles of fighting and combat. Whereas, with a completely revamped Justice Academy team, we have no clue on who might be the winner." Miles added his comment in.
"I agree. And from the rumours, we might be having a Kryptonian and a Speedster in the JA team, sure to be powerhouses. Speaking off the JA, from the crowd reactions, they don't seem to be liked that much."
"I noticed that too. This could possibly be the least cheered for team. And that's troubling since JA are the hosts too…"
"Well, thankfully, the competition isn't on how much cheers they're getting." Jayden concluded as the hooters rang, officially kicking off the match.
Over to Barry and Oliver,
Oliver and Barry walked slowly over to one of the benches at the park. As they made their way over, something vibrated once, twice, then three times. Barry quickly pinpointed it as coming from one of the many pockets in his uniform.
Barry turns to Oliver, "Oliver… I… I think it's my earpiece from Star Labs… Can you…?"
"I'll take care of it." Oliver responds to him, reaching into Barry's pocket and taking out the earpiece. He turned it on and slipped it into his own ear.
"This is GA. Barry's right beside. What's the matter?" Oliver responded through the ear piece.
"Ummm… Cisco-I mean, Vibe- here. There's an odd Metahuman Alert near your location." Cisco responded.
"What kind of threat are we talking about? Why is it odd?" Oliver snapped to attention, instantly alert.
"It's a speedster signature. By the pier." Cisco replied. "I'll let you know as soon as I get a clearer vision."
"Copy that!" Oliver replied and took the earpiece off. "It was Cisco. Seems like there's a speedster here in Happy Harbour Pier."
"A speedster…" Barry's mind stalled, and phantoms of red lightning danced across his vision, glinting off a knife as it slowly inched closer to his mother's chest…
Despite his weariness, Barry grit his teeth and lightning flickered across his suit. Nothing would stop him from finding the Reverse Flash.
Not men. Not metahumans. And certainly not some stupid unexplained tiredness. "We have to go."
"You… You sure?" Oliver asked hesitantly. "We have a mission." Even as he spoke, his hands drifted towards his retractable bow.
Barry didn't hesitate. "This is important. Hold tight."
Before Oliver could respond, Barry had grabbed him, and the two junior heroes were gone in a flash.
Meanwhile, on the ground,
Kara eyed her opponent warily. Though it was tempting to assume that her invulnerability would protect her, that had clearly proven to be a dangerous path. If someone was using an outdated weapon like a mace, it either meant they were a master like Oliver, or it had magical properties.
She really hoped it didn't have magical properties. Still, as long as she avoided it, she should be good.
The match started, and Kara kicked it off by flying into the air. Whispers overtook the crowd as she floated in the air, trying not to feel self-conscious. Even if it made people suspect she was related to Superman, it was worth it to win this match and ultimately protect her friends.
Now that she was in the air, there was no way that Kendra could reach her…
Then her opponent hunched over and two enormous dark wings unfurled from her back. With two strong flaps, Kendra took to the air, and the two girls hovered across the arena from each other.
"Aw, man, you can fly?" Kara groaned. "Now I'm going to have to take this seriously."
Kendra raised an eyebrow as she spun her mace theatrically. "I wouldn't be too confident if I was you. One hit from this mace and you're done." She raised the weapon, which had an unworldly shine to it.
Kara grinned. The only person she could spar with in the air was Ray, and even with his most advanced suits she felt uncomfortable hitting a baseline human. Whatever Kendra was, she wasn't human.
The bird girl let out a battle cry and charged, covering the distance between the two incredibly fast…or at least it was incredibly fast by human standards. By the time her mace had swung at Kara's head, the blonde girl was already gone.
"Well, I have to say, I'm a tad disappointed, Jayden. This match seems to have turned into a repeat of the last, with Kara Danvers being chased by Kendra Saunders around the arena." Miles said, a slight frown on his face.
"I have to disagree." Jayden cut in. "Kendra appears to have a much more level head, and there's no indication that Kara has the stamina to match her speed. A method of flying like Kendra's wings may be slower, but likely less draining than whatever method Kara is using."
Kara, couldn't help but grin as she heard several people from the rivalling schools agree with Jayden…and none from Justice Academy, who all knew that Kara was Kryptonian, and most definitely could keep up the speed all day long.
Kendra, whose breath was starting to become uneven, floated across from the blonde heroine and eyed her with respect, taking a break from the chase. "I've figured out your game." Kendra said without preamble.
Kara cocked an eyebrow and smiled back. "Oh yeah? Do tell."
"You've been monitoring me. You don't want to risk me hitting you, so you've been leading me around the arena and measuring how fast I can cover certain distances, how I manoeuvre in the air, whether or not I can keep my cool. It's a good plan." Kendra complimented.
Kara blinked in surprise. "Wow. You're right, that's a good plan. I just thought this would be a good way to get some exercise."
Kendra's jaw hung open, and a faint angry flush covered her face. "Excuse me?"
Kara shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, it's not like you're much of a threat, but you've been pretty fun to play with. You should probably just surrender." She advised.
People in the crowd could hear Kendra grinding her teeth, but she didn't rush the other flying girl. That was just what she wanted, and Kendra Saunders would never play into someone else's plans like that. Don't rush Kara, don't rush Kara, don't rush…
Kendra was so focused on not rushing Kara in her anger that she didn't expect for Kara to rush her instead.
In a flash of blue and white, Kara had grabbed Kendra's wrist and twisted it violently, expecting the bird girl to drop the mace. Despite feeling the bones in her wrist fracturing under Kara's grip, Kendra didn't let go, and…
Kendra once again screamed in pain as she put all of her force punching Kara in the face. The impact did very little to Kara, but the delicate bones in Kendra's hand were quickly broken. Despite all that, Kendra didn't let go of her mace.
Kara stared at her opponent with a combination of horror and respect. She was so distracted that she didn't notice Kendra's thumb inch towards a button on her mace.
Her thumb landed on the mace, and lightning ripped through the two women. There were two buttons, one which only electrified the head of the mace, to add a little extra kick to her attacks. The other one had been added specifically for this Tournament, in case she was in this exact situation.
Both girls screamed as the electricity ripped through them. It was a relatively mild current, but there were touches of magic in it, and that made it bypass Kara's normal invulnerability.
It took several seconds before both women realized they were falling.
Kara's senses came back to her full force. If she lost, that would make their mission all the harder. Kara's flight capabilities had deserted her, but her strength was as overwhelming as ever. Fingers trembling, she wrapped her hands around the metal of the mace, and crushed it into an irregular ball.
Whatever mechanism releasing electricity in the mace was destroyed, and Kara's flight kicked back in. She kicked herself away from the falling bird girl and floated in the air as she watched Kendra slam into the ground.
"Holy heck, did you just see that?" Jayden was standing as he shouted into his microphone. His commentator gave Jayden a confused look, and Jayden quickly elaborated. "Kendra's mace is made of a Nth metal/titanium alloy, making it weaker than her normal pure Nth mace, but still nearly unbreakable!"
Miles whistled. Nth metal was extremely rare and powerful, and damaging something even partially made of it was extremely impressive. Like, Superman level impressive.
Back in the arena, Kara touched down and offered her hand to the groaning bird girl. "It was an honour to fight you." Kara said honestly.
Kendra's wings retracted into her back, and she took Kara's hand to stand up. "You too, Kara. That was an impressive trick you pulled on me."
"What trick?" Kara asked. For a moment, Kendra glared at her, then the two girls dissolved into laughter.
"You are devious." Kendra complimented. "I like it."
"And I can't believe you electrocuted yourself just to take me down. That was seriously awesome."
Kendra lifted her mace and raised an eyebrow at the crumbled remains. "We are definitely going to have to team up at some point."
"Dang straight." Kara smiled and offered her hand. The two former opponents shook, and the crowd roared with approval. Behind Kara's back, the hand she had used to crush the mace was bleeding, slight sparks of magical energy jumping off her skin.
"And just like that, the Justice Academy is heading to the next battle!" Miles yelled. "And even the Justice Academy seems happy despite their previous dislike of Kara Danvers."
"With that, Justice Academy is headed to the next battle for the advantage." Miles responded with excitement.
"This is one of the best battles in the history of the tournament! I wonder what else this tournament will hold for us?" Jayden reciprocated his excitement.
Over at the pier,
Barry and Oliver, still dressed in their Tournament uniforms, were crouched atop a shipping container at Oliver's insistence despite how antsy it made Barry. It may only take milliseconds to get down, but where other speedsters were concerned, milliseconds could be an eternity.
Oliver's eyes bounced between the fidgeting Barry and the deserted pier beneath them. Finally, he asked. "Umm… Barry, you don't think you'll find…?"
"I have to believe it's him, Oliver." Barry said firmly. "My whole life, I have been looking for the impossible, to find answers. Then one day, I became the impossible. I need to know the answers, Oliver. For my mom."
Oliver gave a solemn nod and continued to scan the pier, arrow at the ready. Despite his normal coldly logical approach to scanning a target, his eyes kept being drawn to a shed at the far end of the pier. There was something about it that seemed off…
Barry continued scanning the pier for any trace of yellow and red, but something kept distracting him. Frowning, he tipped his head to the side and concentrated on the faint noise. "Umm, Oliver? Can you hear something?"
Oliver paused and his eyes automatically went to the shed. That's why it had been drawing his attention. "It sounds like a dog." He said urgently.
"I'll go check it out." Barry said. "You stay here." In a flash, he was gone.
Barry slowed down as he got closer to the shed, where he found a pile of garbage just underneath a garbage chute. The whimpering was coming from somewhere within the waste pile. Barry sped over and quickly located the source of the noise.
On top of the pile of garbage, was a cardboard box. Within that cardboard box, curled up in the corner, was a tiny brown puppy. Barry reached in and picked it up. The pup barely responded and was much too cold. He cradled it close to his chest, but the little pup seemed to barely be breathing.
Barry began to vibrate his hand, not enough to create sparks, but just enough to give off some heat, and began to gently pet the small dog, massaging heat into its frail body. It let out a whimper and snuggled closer to the teenage speedster, its whimpering slowly becoming contented humming noises.
While the puppy seemed to be happier, Barry couldn't help but think that being cold was its only problem. With his free hand, he began to probe the little dog, feeling its emaciated form and finding multiple cuts underneath its matted fur. As a side benefit, he found out that the little pup was a little boy dog.
Without hesitation, Barry pulled out one of the emergency calorie bars he always carried with him, broke off a piece, and began feeding it to the dog, who eagerly lapped it up.
"There, there…everything's gonna be fine, little guy." Barry cooed.
"Oh, I very much doubt that." A familiar vibrating voice said. Barry spun around with the puppy in his arms and found not only the Man in Yellow, but Oliver as well. The archer was suspended high in the air, kept there firmly by the Reverse Flash's hand on his collar.
Barry grit his teeth and slowly set the dog down. "Get out of here. Get to safety." He whispered to the dog. The pup whimpered, but skidded off, promptly colliding with the wall of the shed.
"Rescuing puppies and nursing them back to health." The Man in Yellow taunted. "Isn't that just like the legendary Barry Allen? Or should I say, not so legendary…yet."
Meanwhile over on the ground
"We now are heading over to our elimination battle. On the one side we have the Lantern Corps and on the other side, we have our Legends." Jayden called out.
"The losing team from this battle will sit out the whole rest of the tournament." Miles continued.
Near the lunch stands, Ray and Donna were meeting up to brief each other. As Ray is munched on the appetizers, Donna looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"You don't take anything seriously, do you?" Donna says with a sigh.
"My mind doesn't work on an empty stomach." Ray protested. His words might have had a better effect if they hadn't sent out a spray of chips with them.
"Oh, your mind works too? Because it seems that your mouth is doing everything for it." Donna snapped back. Ray pouted, and Donna sighed. "Anyway, I might have a bit of an idea on who might be the moles."
"Really, who is it?" Ray asked with curiosity, brushing crumbs off his shirt with greasy fingers.
"The Lanterns seem to fit the profile." Donna said, glancing around to triple check no one else was around. With superpowers, one could never really be sure, but it was good to check.
"Hmm… I did notice how odd their team is. Usually they never bring a Red Lantern to the team, and suddenly not only brining one, but having him be their opener? It's odd." Ray replied with a thoughtful tone.
"Exactly. And look how their battle went. Even for Red Lanterns his attacks were…brutal. Nearly lethal if they connected as they were supposed to. Something is off." Donna added.
Over on the arena,
The two teams entered the arena as they were briefed by the referee. Unlike the match between the Justice Academy and the Legends, there was a palpable feeling of tension between the two teams. Kendra and the man in the trench coat exchanged glares with the two Lanterns, who sneered back at them.
The two Legends looked at each other and nodded. Kendra, equipped with another hybrid metal mace, stepped forward. Despite her exhaustion from the previous match, she was still the only one who could fight if the Lanterns decided to take the fight to the air.
On the other side of the arena, the Red Lantern stepped forward. The glow around him was much brighter than it had been previously. "You are so dead, Birdie!" the Red Lantern growled looking at Kendra.
Kendra grunted as she raises her mace and replies, "I'm going to enjoy smashing your head in…"
Once again, the Lantern decided to open with a quick and brutal haymacker, obviously hoping to end the match quickly. Kendra merely planted her feet solidy, and swung her mace to meet the Lantern's charge.
The audience leaned forward as they expected the Lantern to plough into the Nth combination metal, only for the Lantern to skid to a halt right in front of the winged girl with a look of concentration on his face. In a flash of crimson light, the boy was wielding a translucent red claymore in one hand.
The sword flicked out and scored a vicious slice on Kendra's side. The girl hissed, but managed to cover the distance between them and swing her mace at her opponent. The Lantern held up his new weapon to block, but when the mace made contact, it passed right through as if the rage construct wasn't even there, slamming into the Lantern's ribcage.
The Lantern was blown back by the attack, and let his claymore flicker out of existence as his hands went to the injury on his torso.
Miles whistled as he observed the match. "Wow, I knew that Nth metal was powerful, but to be able to pass through a Lantern construction? That makes Saunder's mace quite a dangerous weapon."
Jayden, however, had other things on his mind. "Ref, I believe that our Lantern has broken the rules. This is a contest of physical skills, so ring constructs aren't allowed."
"I have to say I disagree. The reasoning behind that rule was that Lantern have such a diverse set of things that they can create, but if he only makes medieval constructs then that is simply levelling the playing field." Miles pointed out.
The Lantern grit his teeth as he listened to the commentators and continued to dodge Kendra's mace. He had hoped that the idiot commentators would be too absorbed in the action to call him on his projections, but now he was restricted to very basic weaponry. Still, he had to make do.
The previous match had given him an idea, though. The only thing that made Kendra truly dangerous was her mace; deprive her of that and he could easily take her out.
With a focusing of his rage, the Red Lantern formed a broadsword in either hand. Due to their energy-based nature, they were light as a feather, but that made them no less dangerous. Instead of dodging, the Lantern went on the offensive.
Kendra tried to block with her mace, but just as her weapon could pass right through the Lantern's, so could his. The red sword scored a cut from her collarbone to her stomach, and the bird girl quickly jumped out of the way.
So began a dance of cutting weapons versus bludgeoning. Neither of them could block with their weapons, which was a severe disadvantage to Kendra, who had to fight against her training to not block the incoming attacks.
Kendra grit her teeth. She could take to the skies, but getting her wings out took time, time that the Red Lantern surely would capitalize on. All she could do was hope for an opening to get a good hit on her opponent.
Finally, her opportunity came. The Red Lantern raised both of his swords in an overhead slice, bellowing in rage, leaving his torso open to attack. Kendra put all of her focus into aiming at his ribs, the same spot she had hit earlier.
The Red Lantern's weapons disappeared into nothingness, and his now free hands came down and grabbed Kendra's mace just an inch before it made contact. With a grunt of effort that strained Kendra's already abused hands, the bird girl was disarmed.
The Lantern threw away the weapon with an ugly grin on his face. The bird girl backed away, her eyes following her weapon, until the Red Lantern's fist made brutal contact with her face, knocking her to the ground. The impact was so great that people in the back stands could hear it, and the crowds went crazy.
"And with that, our defending champions are staying on for the tournament!" Miles announced, his voice nearly raw with excitement.
"That unfortunately means, the Legends are out of the tournament. They may have lost their shot at being Champions, but the Legends are free to stay and cheer on their friends and curse their enemies for the rest of the Tournament." Jayden said jovially.
"This is a very important development, Jayden. This year's tournament could possibly be instrumental to the future of the Superhero Development Program in our universe." Miles remarked to Jayden.
"Well said. With the final match scheduled for tomorrow, we will know who will be in the first position at the end of round one. We will also learn what's the special advantage that the members of the leading team would receive Jayden replied as the crowd for the day are slowly dispersing.
"With that, this is it for Day One of the Justice Tournament. We will see you tomorrow to finish off the Combat Round and move on to the…"
"Deduction Round! Until then, this is Jayden Hawk…" Jayden adds on.
"And Miles Crook signing off. See you all tomorrow!" Miles replies as they sign off, closing the event for the day.
As the event is wrapped up, Ray and Donna headed over to their team's room. Inside, they saw Kara and Laurel, rested up, seemingly going over the match footage. Every time they reviewed the match between Kendra and the Red Lantern, Kara winced as Kendra fell to the ground.
Laurel noticed Ray and Donna entering as she asked, "How did it go, guys?"
"We managed to monitor all the teams." Ray began.
"We think maybe the infiltrators are from the Lantern side." Donna added in.
Kara pondered over their response as she added, "I agree…" She looked at the screen playing the Lantern's match footage. "Something seems off. The commentators were right, the Lanterns aren't allowed to use constructions, and that isn't enforced lightly. We're not supposed to know this; but there's a machine under the arena that disables the ring's construction function, but somehow they were still able to. That's something we need to investigate. Plus, after the Red Lantern's humiliating defeat in the first round, why have him fight in the second round? There's too many questions surrounding them."
Laurel nodded as she looked behind Ray and Donna, "Where's Ollie and Barry? Shouldn't they be back by now?"
Ray shook his head, looking puzzled. "No, I thought they were still outside waiting for Barry to get better."
"Did they contact you?" Kara asked as both Laurel and Kara get up, looking tense.
"Umm… No." Donna thought about it. "I… I'm gonna check the tracker." Donna moves over to the computer, entering in her details. The tracker not only tracked (hence the name) their teammates, it also wirelessly tapped into all security feeds in a fifty feet radius to allow their teammates to see what was happening.
The screen flickered to a pier that the group recognized as being in Happy Harbour. Barry was standing in front of a shivering dog, and the look of venom on his face managed to send chills down his teammate's spines. Of course, they could understand why he had such a look on his face as they took in the rest of the scene…
The Reverse Flash had taken Oliver hostage.
Meanwhile on the Pier,
"Rescuing puppies and nursing them back to health. Isn't that just like the legendary Barry Allen? Or should I say, not so legendary…yet." TheReverse Flash laughed. Despite his vibrations obscuring his face, Barry got the distinct impression that the man was grinning ghoulishly.
Oliver grunted as he tried to twist out of the Reverse Flash's grip, but it was no use. The man's grip was like iron, and Oliver could get no leverage from his position.
"You… You…" Barry struggled to find words. Most of his fantasies had involved beating the man senseless, not talking to him, but he had no choice given his friend's position. Behind him, the pup from the garbage seemed to be reluctant to leave his side. The pup's haunches were raised and he let out a growl at the supervillain.
"Yes, I'm the one who killed your mom!" Reverse Flash replied, his voice filled with twisted delight. The man let out a dramatic sigh. "You know, there was a time when I used to adore you as a hero."
Barry, much like the pup, let out a growl, and lightning flickered around his body as he prepared to rush his lifelong enemy. However, before he could, the Reverse Flash's hand began to vibrate and he moved it towards the struggling Oliver. "Ah. Ah. Ah… One wrong move and your vigilante bestie is going to die rather painfully. I've heard that having your heart pulped is rather bad for your health."
"Go to hell!" Oliver spat. It would've sounded more threatening had he been able to reach any of his weapons… "Don't listen to him, Barry!"
Barry shot a glance at his friend and let go of his connection to the Speed Force. Trembling, he got out the words, "What…do…you…want?"
More red lightning began to spark off of the Reverse Flash in his excitement. "Simple…I want your speed."
Barry knew he should move. All of his training demanded that he move, get into a better position to properly utilize his speed. But if he did…Oliver would die.
While Barry remained frozen, the Reverse Flash's fingers began to dance in the air and red lightning coalesced around his hand. In the space between milliseconds, the concentrated power crossed the space between the hero and villain and struck Barry in the chest, leaving a twisting chain of energy connecting the Flash and his foil.
It was like being struck by lightning all over again, only instead of burning, crackling energy filling him, Barry could feel all of the energy within him leaving. Every spark of lightning that had become a part of him over the months since the particle accelerator explosion was violently ripped away, leaving Barry's muscles quivering and his bones burning.
Barry sank to his knees, clawing desperately at the ground as if he could grab back his power with his bare hands. Every second that passed, the crackling red lightning that connected the two speedsters gained more and more shots of yellow, sending flickering shadows over Oliver's horrified face.
The dog behind Barry whimpered as he heard his saviour's cries of pain. He scampered over to Barry and sunk his teeth into Barry's uniform, trying to drag him away to safety.
The Reverse Flash noticed the dog and felt an inkling of confusion bloom within him before being swept away by the heady rush of power flowing through him. So much power…
The dog growled around a mouthful of the reinforced cloth. It was clear dragging its saviour out of the way wasn't working. Dogs are simple creatures, and this dog saw a very simple solution to helping its speedster friend.
The dog let go of the whimpering Barry and promptly leapt into the stream of lightning.
The smell of ozone in the area was quickly replaced by the smell of burning fur and flesh. The Reverse Flash's body buckled at the stream disconnected from the Speed Force endowed human to the completely ordinary dog.
Barry's head lolled on the floor and he barely managed to get his eyes open to see the dog standing stalwart even as its skin blackened and cracked. Barry's arm spasmed as he tried to move, but his body screamed in protest.
On the other end of the lightning stream, Oliver shoved the horrific sight in front of him to the back of his mind in favour of trying to escape. The Reverse Flash was shaking, and not in the normal way. In fact, he seemed to be in immense pain, as if he was losing control of his body.
None of that mattered. All that mattered was that the speedster's grip had loosened.
Oliver grunted as he swung back and forth. When he finally got enough momentum, he slammed his elbow into the speedster's ribs. The force of the blow, combined with the evil speedster's wooziness, made the Reverse Flash crumble to the floor. The stream of combined lightning rapidly disintegrated into stray sparks, and Oliver fell to the ground.
The emerald archer quickly made his way to his feet and stumbled over to the unconscious Barry and the probably dead dog. To his surprise, the dog appeared to still be breathing, and he could have sworn he saw a spark of lightning jump off of it's charred skin.
Oliver stripped the speedster of his earpiece and was ready to call his team when a rush of wind nearly knocked him back, and he found that Barry was no longer on the ground. Instead, he was cradled in the arms of a blonde girl with desperate blue eyes.
"Barry? Barry, please wake up!" Kara begged. Her breathing began to quicken, and Oliver laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. The Kryptonian girl didn't even glance up at the archer.
"Kara, there's time for panic later. Right now, we need to get Barry to Star Labs." Oliver commanded, steel slipping into his voice.
Before Oliver had time to blink, Kara had disappeared with her boyfriend in her arms. Oliver unsheathed a knife hidden in his boot and turned back to the downed speedster, only to find that the Reverse Flash had disappeared as well. Sighing, Oliver returned the weapon to its hiding place.
A slight whimpering sound caught his attention, and Oliver's attention was once again drawn to the dog that had likely saved both of their lives. Oliver knelt and gently cradled the creature, whose delicate pink tongue peaked out to wearily lick Oliver's face. Glassy green eyes stared up at him, tired but nowhere near ready to give up.
His hand went to his coms. "Guys, I need a trip to Star Labs. We have one more injured."
"Are you hurt?" Laurel's voice asked, concerned.
Oliver shook his head, knowing they could likely see him from the cameras at the pier. "No, it's for this little guy. He needs medical attention."
"How desperate is it? We don't have a good visual on the subject."
Oliver eyed the dog critically, a theory already taking shape in his mind. "As soon as you can, we don't want to take any chances." He said finally. "But don't worry too much. He's a fast healer."
Several Hours Later, Star Laboratories,
Barry's eyes crept open and recognized the familiar burning lightbulbs of Star Labs. A groan crept from his lips, and several blurry shapes entered his vision. The shapes quickly resolved themselves into Kara, Oliver, Ray, Donna and Laurel crowding around his bed with concern in their eyes.
"Guys, I may not be that good at biology, but this is freaking awesome!" Cisco's voice came from the other room, and the young metahuman entered the room with his eyes glued to a tablet. The boy glanced up and then quickly back down. "Oh, hey, Barry."
Barry rolled his eyes fondly as he struggled to sit up. "Good to see you too, bud." He got out.
When he managed to sit up, he was quickly engulfed in a hug by his very relieved girlfriend. "I, for one, am very glad to see you." She whispered. Barry relaxed and tried to enjoy the moment, which a wiggling furry lump between the two disrupted. Barry pulled back and looked down to find the tiny puppy he had rescued curled up in Kara's arms.
The puppy yipped happily and leapt out of Kara's arms and into Barry's lap, licking his face frantically. Barry laughed and pet the dog until it calmed down, sitting protectively on his chest. The rest of the team all looked amused, except for Cisco, who looked close to bursting.
"So…" Barry finally said sombrely. "What happened?"
Oliver reached out and squeezed Barry's shoulder. "When the Reverse Flash shot you with that bolt, this little guy sensed you were in danger. He wanted to stop it from hurting you so he…" The archer shrugged.
"Just, you know, jumped into a stream of lightning that was otherwise probably going to have killed you." Laurel finished.
The memory suddenly flooded back to him, and Barry looked down at the puppy sitting on him with shock. The puppy seemed hale and hearty, unlike what he had seen of him while they were at the pier. "Thank you." He whispered to the puppy. In response, the puppy yipped happily and snuggled closer to the speedster. "But...how did he survive?"
"I'll explain!" Cisco yelled, a wide grin upon his face. He shoved the tablet under Barry's nose, and it was a close up of a cell that was full of familiar looking energy. Barry gave the scientist a confused look, not understanding.
"That's not from you, Barry." Kara explained. She nodded towards the puppy. "It's from him."
Barry's jaw dropped, and he looked at the puppy with new eyes as Cisco continued to explain. "That thing that the Reverse Flash hit you seemed to act as a bridge between you two, opening a way for your Speed Force power to flow from you to him."
Kara reached out and took his hand, and with the other she also pet the tiny hero dog. "This little guy messed that up though. We don't know the specifics, but when the bridge connected to him instead of you, the Speed Force began flowing in reverse."
Oliver scowled. "That bastard fled when he realized he was losing strength. Luckily, that means he'll be weaker in the future."
Laurel smacked the archer upside the head. "Language! There are little ears here."
"Gah! Who? We're all adults….sort of." Oliver defended, rubbing his head.
"The puppy." Barry defended. With a wide grin, he covered the puppy's ears. "Don't be a bitch, Oliver. We don't want him learning bad language."
Oliver buried his face in his hands, and the group laughed. Well, the humans, metahumans and Kryptonians laughed. The puppy just sat contentedly on Barry and licked his chin.
"Here's the cool part," Ray continued. "Now that he has the Speed Force in his system, he's not just a regular dog…he's a metadog! A speedster!" The mechanic was practically vibrated in his seat, and Donna rolled her eyes at him.
A grin grew on Barry's face. "This is awesome! I have a superpet!"
Kara patted his hand comfortingly. "Now you'll have someone who can go with you on long runs."
Laurel leaned over and ruffled the puppy's fur. "He's a brave little guy, especially since he's blind."
Barry blinked in surprise as he looked at Laurel, then at the rest of the group, who all nodded. "We figured it out when he got here. He doesn't respond to anything unless he can hear or smell it, and his eyes don't react to light." Donna said. "It is no matter. Some of the greatest warriors in amazon history were blind."
"We tried to call Caitlin and see if maybe your powers could help him regain his sight, but for now…he's blind as they come." Cisco said, the edge of his enthusiasm taken off by the topic.
Barry looked down at the puppy, whose glassy green eyes stared back guilelessly into his own. He didn't seem to be putout in the least. A smile tugged at his lips. "Don't you worry, Streaky. You and me are gonna get along really well."
Cisco looked excited. "Dude, you finally got to name a meta! Granted, it's a metadog that you own, but still! Streaky is a good one for your first."
Ray took a dramatic pose. "Streaky…Fastest Hound Alive!"
The only one who looked disappointed was Donna. "I was going to vote for Sir Speedy von Barkenstein."
"And technically, he's a Siberian husky breed." Kara added on.
The rest of the group stared at the two girls until Cisco broke the silence. "Streaky! Fastest Hound Alive!" He cheered.
Streaky barked in agreement and in a flash of brown fur, had scampered up and began licking Cisco's face with enthusiasm. The boy fell to the ground, with the puppy on top of him. "Dog cooties!" He yelled.
The group burst into laughter, and eventually, even Cisco joined in.
Meanwhile, Somewhere Else,
Reverse Flash limped into his lair, holding onto his rib. He walks in, feeling tired. Slowly, he moves over to his table and takes a seat.
"You can come out now." Reverse Flash calls out, dropping his vibrated voice.
Out from the shadows, walks out a man. A man in a light brown long trench coat with neatly trimmed facial hair. He replied with a British accent, "Hello, Mr. Eobard… Step One is Accomplished."
And that's all for Year One: Justice Tournament – Enter the Contenders!
I hope you guys liked the part one of the tournament. As I put this up, I'm working on the Next Update along with the Power Couple Update. Hopefully, I will be able to churn out more chapters on a more steady pace. I also want to thank all those lovely souls that have been very supportive throughout the time of this story.
Please do continue to show your support in the reviews. It is really helpful if you do so as if more people are reading the story, it is more motivating for me to work harder for these stories.
For the conclusion…
Justice Tournament: Enter the Contenders – The chase continues. Things get wild as the Tournament goes on. On the other hand, Kara seems to be having visitors. Meanwhile, Oliver and Donna are to deal with Oliver's source of Information… The Bratva! Over on the other end, Laurel and Ray head on to the Deduction Round! How are Barry and Kara going to handle the new Trouble? What does Bratva want in return from Oliver? How is the Tournament going to shape up? What does the Villains have in plan? Find out more in the next update of Adventures of Justice Academy, Featuring, Thea Queen!
Until Next Time!