I don't own anything but original characters and my original plot
⚡️
Chapter 1 - Change
⚡️
"COME ON YOU CAN'T SAY I DON'T KNOW FASHION."
I laughed, walking into my living room. Lex had recently given me a phone and I was taking full advantage of the device. It was smaller and easier to bring around that my computer, but just as monitored. Even then, I had the villains wrapped around my dangerous finger.
Me getting what I wanted more often than not also could have had something to do with the fact that there were limited options in terms of entertaining myself. You can only arrange furniture so many times. I sat down on a loveseat positioned on the right wall. I switched my phone to my other ear so I could pull at a loose string on one of the armrests. I would just sew it back up later if I had to.
"I'm not saying that you don't know fashion Ivy," I laughed, switching my phone again, "It's just that I don't care a lot about fashion. It's confusing, and there's not anyone I'm really trying to impress here. Maybe now that I have a phone I can look at more outfits and understand. But I've worn purple and highlighter yellow together before."
"I still can't believe you wore those clothes together and still looked adorable," Ivy sighed. I giggled, shifting so my legs could hang off the side of the seat.
"You know you love me," I teased, throwing my head back. From my new position I could see the metal door and glass wall just in front of me.
The layout of my 'room' was a bit complicated, considering that it was like an apartment within another room. The front wall where the front door would be was glass, a metal door being the only thing connecting me to the outside world. On the right side of the door was my living room, and on the right my kitchen. Down the hall from that was a hallway holding two bathrooms and two bedrooms. One for me, and one for any villains that might be staying.
From the hallway that held the bedrooms was another hallway that led to my schooling and training facilities. There, there was a larger room that I trained in psychically, and a smaller room that was designed to model a classroom. Equipped with a desk, projector, and whiteboard.
"Anyways, I was thinking about coming to visit you soon. The Bat has been on the prowl more often lately so it'd be nice to be able to relax for a while. It's hard to plan anything when you're spending the majority of your time evading the bat."
I opened my mouth to answer Ivy, excited to see my motherly figure. But before I could get another word out, my body seized up with fear. My eyes strayed from the loose strand on the armrest, to the growing shadow at the entrance of my level.
"I don't see anything down here guys," I heard someone sigh faintly, not too far from my room. It could have been a worker, but Lex never let anyone down here besides people I knew well. It would have been a disaster for everyone involved if someone who worked for Lex Corp wandered down here on accident.
"Unrecognized lifeform approaching. Shall I call Lex Luthor?"
I paled as the realization sunk in. The voice didn't belong to someone I knew. It was too young, too different; and though I couldn't see the person yet, I saw their shadow, and I knew shadows. The figure didn't match the outline of anyone I had ever come in contact with. This was a new, unaware, possibly dangerous person.
"Shall I call Lex, Miss. (Y/n)?"
"No, don't call Lex," I ordered my AI system, "I'll let you know if you need to."
I slowly pulled my legs down, bare feet touching the soft carpet. I stood up and moved towards the front glass wall separating me from the danger outside.
"(Y/n), you still there?" I abruptly ended the call, almost forgetting that I had been talking to Ivy in the first place. I would get weeds growing under my bed for it, but I didn't need Ivy to freak out and go all savage mother when she found out what was going on. I could take care of myself, this was a chance to prove it.
"W-who's there?" I grimaced. Not only was my voice wavering, but there was a nice crack at the beginning of my question. I was supposed to sound confident and strong, not like the freaked out fifteen year old that I was.
A yellow streak ran into my room, stopping in front of the glass near the living room, a few feet to the left of me It was Kid Flash. He looked better in person than he did in the images Lex had of him. His hair was a richer red, giving me the impression that it really could be on fire. When I squinted I could see lightning sparking behind his bottle green eyes. My eyes travelled over his bright suit, blushing. It was tight.
His eyes scanned the surrounding area before landing on me. I sucked in a breath, pulse roaring in my ears. This feeling, sweaty hands, fast pulse was unfamiliar and unwelcome. This had never happened in training before, then again, I had always been aware that the training wasn't real.
Kid Flash continued to stare at me in all of my loungewear glory, standing behind six inches of power proof, bullet proof glass. He met my eyes, and my heart stopped. A blush spread across his cheeks as well, connecting his dark freckles.
"Who are you? Did Luthor lock you up? Did they experiment on you?" He asked quickly, walking over to the panel that controlled the door. Classic, assuming that I wasn't here by choice, that I was being held prisoner for some weird reason.
"No!" I screeched when he reached out for the panel. The room became shrouded in darkness, the shadows in the darkest corners inching forward to cover up the lights on the ceiling. What scared me more than his proximity to the panel keeping me from the outside world however, was his shadow flickering behind him.
Letting out a slow breath, I sighed in relief when Kid Flash's shadow returned to normal. Kid Flash hunched over, coughing dryly a few times before straightening back up and looking himself over. Upon finding nothing wrong, he looked back at me.
I pressed my hands against the glass keeping me and Kid Flash apart, "Don't let me out. If you do, what just happened to you might happen again."
"What are you- Did you do that to me?" Kid Flash questioned, speeding in front of me. He put his gloved hands over mine. My eyes flitted down to them, my cheeks flushing again. If I focused, I could imagine warmth coming from his covered skin, both natural and unnatural from the energy his powers sent through him.
"I didn't do it on purpose," I claimed defensively, stepping back. I clenched the hand he placed his over into a fist, chasing away my former thoughts, "I'm sorry. I'm really good at controlling it most of the time. This has just never happened before."
"How did you hurt me?"
"Umbrakinesis," I stated bluntly. I was entirely sure why I was telling him my power. He was probably going to call his friends down, tell them I was here. If he did, I would have to tell my system to start the security features and call Lex.
"Umbraka what?"
"Umbrakinesis. The ability to control or manipulate shadows," I reiterated, sitting down on the floor. After I motioned for Kid Flash to do the same, he sat down as well, cautious.
"What's dangerous about a shadow? They can't hurt people, you can't even touch them."
"You rip out the shadow, you kill the person. You control the shadow, you control the person. Your shadow is like your darker half, it won't hesitate to kill," I sighed, leaning back on my hands, "Kid Flash, it may seem strange but I've been down here for what feels like forever, and I'm not a prisoner. I don't even think the people that visit me are evil."
"So you don't want to be free? You don't want to see the world or at least get to breathe some fresh air?" Kid Flash asked, curiosity sparking along with the lightning in his eyes.
"Nope! You saw why," I shrugged casually, "If that happened out in the real world I would be screwed."
"KF, time to go!" I heard faintly from the ear in Kid Flash's ear.
"You should turn that down, it could ruin a mission," I advised the young hero, standing up with him, "Please, please, don't tell your team about me. You saw what I did to you. I'm getting it under control, but things can easily go wrong. I'm going to get out in two years, isn't that good enough?"
Kid Flash hesitated, thinking out his options. "I won't tell them about you, but I will be back. And if something ever seems off, if you're ever hurt, I'm going to tell my team so they can break you out. We have people who can handle your powers."
Then he was gone.
I stared out the glass at the wall across from me for at least ten seconds. When everything had set in I stumbled back into my loveseat. I just talked to, and nearly harmed a junior hero. Not only that, but he was with a team.
If the info I had been taught was correct, there was a team created from the Justice League's sidekicks. Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss. Martian, Artemis, Robin, and Aqualad. That was mostly who Kid Flash was with, and who had infiltrated Lex Corp.
With shaky fingers I sent an apology to Ivy about hanging up on her, explaining that my finger slipped and ended the call. She answered telling me that she would be over tomorrow so we could hang out for the day.
Setting my phone down next to me, I focused on my breathing. If I could regulate that, then maybe my heart rate would slow down, and my stomach would stop twisting to make me nauseous.
Kid Flash was here, for whatever reason, with his team. I knew that much. He also said that he wouldn't tell them about me at all. It was a relief, but was he even trustworthy? Did he just tell me that to lower my guard? Maybe he was upstairs that very second, formulating a plan with his teammates to come back down and take me by surprise.
I looked back out the glass, glaring at nothing in particular. I flicked my wrist, and a shadow below me brushed over my hand and settled in my palm. I wiggled my fingers and it morphed into a knife. I wasn't going to be forcefully taken from my home to be poked and prodded by heroes. I was happy, content with staying where I was for a year or two longer.
I stared out of the front wall for the next ten minutes, senses hypersensitive to anything and everything that might jump out and attack. When nothing happened, I let out a small huh. Perhaps Kid Flash really was a man of his word.
Slowly walking to my bathroom, ears still preening for any kind of noise, I pulled out a new towel so I could shower and get ready to go to bed. I turned the water on and waited for it to get warm. When it was to my liking I stripped off my clothes and stepped inside.
Humming quietly to myself, I sighed, finally relaxing from what had just unfolded. The water was heavenly, warming me up and handling the tense muscles in my shoulders and neck.
Eyes closed and hands running through my hair to lather it with shampoo, my mind began to wander back to Kid Flash again. If he was a man of his word, and his friends really weren't coming to get me that meant-
I paused, the water hitting my back being the only thing to keep me grounded. I had been so worried about being forced out of my home that I blocked out everything else that had happened between us. With the majority of that anxiety gone now, it was coming back to me.
Kid Flash said he would come back.