My stomach was beginning to roar so loud the people on the street corner were starting to stare. Strange for someone so well dressed to be so hungry, I leaned against the side of the old stone building, wishing Roy hurry up. Things were so tense with my mother after I came back from Bialya, I didn't hesitate to help Roy on a mission when he asked.
But I didn't have food, nor did I have money so I would have to do what I always did: suck it up.
"Hey, Mara," said Roy, using the name that had become common in the cave these days, although his official nickname for me is Padfoot because of how I sneak around without a sound.
I turned around. He was dressed in a suit and tie unlike me dressed in civies, a shoto sword concealed by my jacket. Dark sunglasses covered his blue eyes, making him look like a MIB agent.
He handed me a Caesar Salad and a plastic fork, and I'd learnt long ago I could never really say no to him without it turning into an argument.
"Thanks," I said, following as he started to walk down the down the street. He hadn't said much when he called, and I was so desperate to get away I didn't ask. "So, what are we doing here?"
"I got a tip the Shadows' assassin Cheshire is going to sabotage the peace summit between North and South Rhelasia."
"Shadows," I grumble. "You should have told me."
"Would you have come?" he asked, knowing that I wouldn't have. "I'm sorry but I needed someone that knows them. You have inside knowledge, Kida, use it."
Of course, he was right about me. He knew I almost lost everything, knew what I had to endure and be punished for it. Knew why my hands felt like bricks at times. How could I fight a losing battle, knowing I couldn't win? Live to see the people around me in the Lanes tire, starve, diminish, die. But I would live. I don't know why I have always been sure of that, why I feel I can persist – long before the Shadows taught me how to endure – but I can. I started to feel angry, furious. It was this fire that kept me going. But it was also a curse. It made me standout be singled out. But I could use it, like Roy said.
"I guess you're right," I said.
"Of course I am, Kida." He grinned.
There wasn't much talk after that, but it wasn't uncomfortable, and we got into position around the South Rhelasian embassy. News crews and reporters crowded every available space, itching to get a glimpse of the arbitrator when he arrived. Could be the Secretary General of the UN, or Superman.
Roy blended in with the security detail, while I hung back in the square with the civilian onlookers. The square's surrounded by shops, and I guessed on public market days, especially if there's good weather, it had a holiday feel to it. Now it just felt like a trap, despite the bright banners hanging on the buildings, there was an air of grimness.
From across the square, I saw Roy press a finger to his commlink It crackled as it switched frequencies. Then Kaldur's voice filled my ears. "Aqualad."
"Red Arrow."
"And Marauder."
"We need access to the Justice League database, along with the exact height of the League of Shadows assassin know as Cheshire," said Red Arrow, all the warmth from before had drained from his expression. This was his game face.
"Checking..." came Aqualad's voice. I scanned the plaza for anyone acting shifty, or too not shifty for that matter. Shadows knew how to blend in; usually you wouldn't see them coming until it was too late. Cheshire was not going to be an exception to that. Shadows don't make mistakes. "Cheshire is 1.67 meters."
"Um..." Red Arrow trailed off.
I shook my head at his stupidity. "She's 5'6, Red," I said. My cousins had drilled the metric system into their idiot American relative (me), last time I was over.
"And exceptionally dangerous," Aqualad added. "Do the two of you require back up?"
"Please," Red Arrow scoffed. "The last thing I need is the Junior Justice League."
"Just our computer," Aqualad retorted.
With a silent thanks to Batman, I put on my mask and activated the HUD by lowering the goggles. The height of every woman in the plaza square came up. I scanned the area until Cheshire's image came up in red. She was standing in a venders booth. , dressed as a civilian, a cap shadowing her face, but I knew it was her. "I see her. Far side of the entrance."
"Good luck my friends," said Kaldur. "Aqualad out."
Roy unfolded a compound bow from his briefcase as I crossed the promenade, not heading directly towards Cheshire so to give myself away, but still close enough to get the jump on her when she tried to make a move.
Sirens blared as red and blue flashing lights filled the square. The police escorted a flash white car from both ends.
The arbitrator had arrived.
The car pulled up to the curb in front of the summit building. That was when I saw Cheshire's movement in the corner of my eye. She was in full assassin get-up, complete with the mask that gave her the name, it was the grinning red-and-white face of the Cheshire cat. She stood atop the vender's booth, rocket launcher in her hands.
Before she was able to pull the trigger, Roy shot a single arrow, knocking Cheshire off her aim, saving the arbitrator. The missile careened erratically in the air as people ran away in panicked droves, blocking me from getting back to Roy.
I saw him leap off the roof of the arbitrator's car, shooting an arrow which released a net. Cheshire sliced through it with her sais as the rocket blew up a newsstand, showering us in confetti.
I pushed past the crowd, running to intercept Cheshire. I aimed powerful upward swipe at her face that she barley dodged. She turned just enough to avoid a broken jaw, but I was able to grab her mask. And I was moving to make another strike at her. And then Cheshire slammed into me, knocking me flat on my back, pinning my shoulders to the ground with her hands, straddling my waist.
"Is that you, Chief?" she asked, wiping the blood from my face. I struggled to unseat her, but it's no use. She was too heavy and her lock on me too tight. "Long time no see. You don't call, you don't write."
"Kia ora, Chesh," I said gloomily.
Suddenly there were several loud clicks all around us, the loud clang-y sound that only means one thing.
Guns being cocked.
We were surrounded on all sides by men with gun and I turned my head slightly, seeing Roy getting put in cuffs as security apprehended him. But behind him the driver's door to the arbitrator's car open, and a woman stepped out, moving to the back door.
My heart raced as two pairs of the Rhelasian security force hauled me to myfeet, the heavy feeling returning, the twist in my stomach. The sense of danger. The arbitrator stepped out of his car. And it wasn't Superman.
It was Lex Luthor.
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