TWENTY-FOUR: LEAN ON
"The criminals. The monsters, the ones who dedicate themselves to doing wrong need to think he can't die. They need to think he's still out there. Batman lives. Always."
- Dick Grayson, Batman Vol.1 #687
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PHOEBE SLIPPED ON SOME BLACK leather gloves as she told them her plan, a wicked grin on her face (which was obviously making John tense)."Okay," she said, "instead of having Gretal fight, we'll send two people to fight. John, since you unfortunately the captain, who do you think should fight?"
John rolled his eyes. "Well, we'll send the people that are the most powerful - so you and Oscar. Gretal and I will go in to save Gabe's mom. I'm pretty sure Oscar will be able to handle it, especially if he's teamed up with you. Nothing like having fire team up with even more fire, right?"
Phoebe grinned. "Alright! And just so you know, Arachne is right below us. And I have a second part to my plan. If you didn't know, Arachne has super powers of her own."
Gretal's eyes widened. "What?"
She nodded, pushing her blue hair out of her face. "Though, I found out a few years back she wasn't born with them. Seems like she was used as a text subject, either willingly or unwillingly. She can sense things from far away, sort of like Spider-Man. And she can see in the dark, just like me. So instead of us all four entering through that door, we'll have John Gretal go through that vent"- she pointed to the barely-noticeable-vent stuck to the bottom of the wall to their left -" and Oscar and I will distract Arachne and whoever else is there with her."
John nodded, satisfied. "Alright. Let's do this."
Gretal glanced at Phoebe's gloves. "What are those for?"
Phoebe glanced at her. "Oh! Well, sometimes when I use my power too much my explosions get weaker. Or when I'm weak my explosions come out weak. So I had a friend of mine make these gloves, which will basically add fuel to my explosions and make them bigger and better. It's just like I dipped my hands in gunpowder and used my power. And these gloves will only fuel them more when I'm weaker."
Gretal stared at her hands in awe. "So cool!"
"I know right! I never would've thought it!"
John motioned for them to hurry up. "Let's go. Enough with the chit chat. You can talk after our mission is over."
Gretal nodded, clenching her fist. "Let's do this!"
• • • •
One things for sure. Gretal will never go in a fucking vent with John ever again. She knows it all part of the plan and it's actually really smart on Phoebe's part with Arachne's surprise power and all, but she would rather jump in a dumpster than go in a vent with John in front of her, his fat ass in her face.
"God," she muttered, "why the fuck would Beatrice ever tap you?"
John glared at her, face red and expression furious. "Excuse me?"
Gretal glanced up. "Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, why would Beatrice ever fuck you."
"Why would she be doing me?"

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Dummies' Guide to Being a Superhero (Editing)
Science FictionBeing a superhero's sidekick was the last thing Gretal Davidson expected, and it was the last thing she wanted to be. Because it takes more than powers to be a superhero. [image credit goes to artist, not me]