The group were gathered inside a barn not to far from the motel. The abandoned structure and the desolate land posed as the perfect location for the group to showcase their powers or in Dick and Harper's case, their skills.
" Okay, in order to work together, fight and defend yourselves like a coordinated team, we gotta see what each other can do. So, any volunteers?" Dick asked, glancing at them.
Gar was shuffling awkwardly as he tried avoiding all eye contact while Rachel just glanced at the two girls who stood staring at their nails like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
Dick's eyes landed on the brunette. "Harper, you've got a killer eye." He called ,causing the girl to let out a groan, her arm dropping to her side before trudging past him.
She took a couple of steps forward, standing next to him before reaching into her bag and pulling out a shiny slick black metal weapon. Her pride and joy, a compact bow.
She pulled out an arrow, twirling it in her hand before notching it." Whoa, wicked." Gar marvelled, eyeing the weapon. Harper smirked at the boy before looking at Dick, amusement shined in his eyes as he saw her grip the familiar weapon. A feeling of nostalgia crept up on him, it felt somewhat surreal. This was the first time he was seeing her use her bow since he had left years ago to Detroit. He suddenly felt this longing to fight by her side once again, to see her in action.
" What do you want me to hit." She asked glancing around the barn.
" The window." He said pointing to the window at the top of the barn. " Don't miss" he mused. She let out a scoff, sending a wink to Gar before she shut her eyes and turned her head away from the target.
" Wait, how are you going to hit the target with your eyes closed?" Gar exclaimed. " You kind of need to see, you know" Kory said sarcastically.
Harper lifted her bow, she held the string feeling her muscles tense as the familiar adrenaline she got whenever she had her bow in her hands coursed through her veins. Then, before anyone could even blink, the arrow shot through the air. The only way they knew she had hit her target was because of the shattering of glass falling from the smashed window.
Harper opened her eyes looking
at the damage she had done. She saw the shocked faces of Rachel, Gar and Kory and the proud look on Dick's." I never miss" she chuckled before giving a small curtsy, falling back in line with the rest.
" Huh, h-how?" Gar stuttered, his eyes darting from the broken window to the brunette who now stood next to him. Harper chuckled in amusement before Dick gestured to Kory next.
" Kory, Rachel said you can create light. Heat. Is that right?" Dick questioned. " Honestly. I'm still trying to figure it out." She replied shrugging, all eyes turning to her.
"Okay, so let's figure it out together. How exactly does it work?" He asked.
" I think it comes from the sun. I can absorb its power and direct it. I'm weaker at night though. I'm sometimes empty. And it takes me a while to recharge." Kory explained.
" How long?" Harper questioned as she listened to the woman. She was curious about Kory, she knew she wasn't human, more like an alien. Now that she couldn't remember who she was, or how she had arrived or even her affiliation with Rachel, Harper wanted to know whatever she could about the magenta haired woman.
" A few hours, a day, I don't know." She tried.
" Can you control it?" Dick questioned, just as curious as the brunette.
Kory let out a scoff." Of course"
" Alright then sparkly fingers, why don't you show us. Hit the tractor." Harper said gesturing to the machine that sat in the corner of the wooden structure.
Kory let out an exhale before her body and hair turned a bright orange. She thrusted her hands forward as a stream of fire came out of her hands, hitting an old tarp,completely missing the target. " I suppose I could use a bit of practice" she said before flicking her hair over her shoulder and strutting towards the group.
Harper grinned at the woman." That was sick, sparkly fingers" she laughed giving the woman a high five. She let out a hiss as she recoiled her hand immediately when she felt her hand sizzle. " Yeah, no, bad idea." She grunted clutching her burnt hand.
" Your turn" Dick nodded at Gar.
Gar moved spastically to the front, cracking his neck. " Okay, I just, uh...give me a second." he spluttered.
" Any time now Gar" Harper mused watching the teen stretch.
" It's a little weird with you guys watching and all. The first time I transformed, I tore through my clothes and, uh... this is my favourite jacket." He explained, chuckling nervously.
Harper shot Rachel an amused look, wiggling her eyebrows at the girl. She could see the young teens forming a bond, she wasn't blind. She honestly shipped it. They needed someone to turn to and they turned to each other. They made an incredible pair, almost like her and Dick.
Rachel rolled her eyes as Dick questioned Gar. " Hold on. You have to be naked?"
" Yeah, but it'll be worth it. I promise." Gar reasoned.Kory laughed." Heard that one before." She commented earning a giggle from Harper.
Gar told them to turn around, the group shared weary looks before turning their backs from the green haired boy. They could hear the unzipping from a jacket and the sound of a small thud from it being discarded.
" You know, if this wasn't a drill, we'd all be dead by now." Harper stated before an unexpected growl ripped though the air.
The group turned around and jumped when a green tiger now stood in place of where Gar was. Dick's arm instinctively went in front of Harper. Normally she would shrug him off saying she was capable of protecting herself but all she could do was stare wide eyed at the tiger that paced up and down by the hay barrels.
" That's him?" Dick breathed out, startled by the fact that there was a tiger right in front of their eyes.
Rachel grinned, the expression of the adults humouring her. " I know right" she laughed. " Got sick or something."
" The flu turned him into a tiger?" Dick said in disbelief. Harper continued to stare in awe of the creature in front of her. Gar,or the tiger, carefully made his way towards her. He let out a purr indicating he wasn't going to harm her. She let out a breath before she shakily raised her hand and stroked its fur. It let out a noise of content before closing its eyes and nuzzling further into her hand.
" Holy shit" she chuckled. Dick stared at the girl in disbelief as she continued to stoke the tiger.
" You can turn back now, back into Gar." Dick told him, still cautious that a boy who seemed as if he couldn't hurt a fly turned into a freaking tiger.
Gar moved away from Harper before the sound of bones cracking was heard. He let out a gasp before standing up straight, his arms stretched out in front of him.
" Ta da" he beamed.
Harper let out a booming laugh before she scrambled over to Rachel quickly shielding her sight from the view. " Gar" She shrieked trying to hide the fact that he was completely naked.
" I, uh... I forgot." He said before scrambling to retrieve his jacket.
" So, have you eaten anyone before." Dick questioned a bit sceptical. " Eaten" Gar chuckled." No. Dude, I haven’t even bitten anyone before." He replied like what Dick implied was completely absurd.
" Be a lot scarier if he wasn't green" stated Kory as Harper let out a hum of agreement. " Or vegan" she added. The green haired boy shot her a glare while she just chuckled.
" Okay, so we have a sharpshooter, a sun woman and a tiger boy. There's definitely potential here." He said.
"Sharpshooter, that's new." She smirked gesturing to the nickname she was given. It was always Artemis or with Hank, Katniss. Sharpshooter was a new one.
" Something new" he smirked before looking at Rachel. " Rachel, you're next."
Her reaction was almost immediate. " No. No I could hurt someone." She said, shaking her head frantically. Her once amused smile had faded and a haunted and fearful look replaced her once humoured eyes.
" Hurting people is kind of the idea here." Kory mentioned before she was silenced by a death glare from the brunette. She was not helping calm the nerves of the girl.
" Rachel, it's a part of you. You gotta stop being afraid of it. You're not going to hurt us. We believe in you." Harper reassured.
" If something goes wrong..." Rachel sighed, not convinced. " You can do this" Dick nodded.
Rachel let out a reluctant sigh before stepping forward. They felt the air grow colder as whispers started to fill the barn. They saw black smoke spiral out of her mouth before swirling in the air.
" Rachel?" Harper muttered, trying to reach the girl as the black smoke grew stronger.
Dick grabbed her arm pulling her slightly behind him. " Okay bring it back in." Dick commanded but the slight waver in his voice showed that he wasn't confident at all.
The black smoke seemed to do the exact opposite, instead making its way towards the group. Harper grabbed Gar, shielding his body while Dick went in front of her. Kory immediately stepped forward, shooting a fireball at the smoke.
The group tumbled to the ground, Dick breaking Harper's fall as she landed on him. She heard a shrill scream before the smoke retreated back into Rachel, her body collapsing onto her knees.
" Rachel!" She yelled, scrambling off of Dick and rushing to aid the young girl, concern never leaving her chocolate eyes.
" Stay back!" she barked, trying to regain control. Harper halted in her tracks. " Rachel" Harper whispered.
"I'm fine" she said, her eyes never leaving the floor. " You sure?" Dick asked, worried for her.
" Did I hurt you?" Kory asked, the group were still in shock from the events. " I just, I just need a little more practice, that's all." She muttered, trying to convince them all.
A heavy silence fell upon the group.
" So, uh ...we all did our thing. What's your thing man?" Gar asked Dick, trying to diffuse the heavy tension that settled on the group.
" I can keep you alive."