Cosmic Mix Up

chapter five

Billy's POV

"Motherfu-!" Screaming in pain, I landed on the training mat and held my nose. I glared up at Tommy, who seemed to be buzzing with energy as he smirked down at me.

"What? Gotta be quicker than that, dude." His smirk grew.

"There was no need to hit me that hard, I think you broke my nose!" I growled, pinching my bleeding nose in hopes of stopping the blood flow.

Tommy shook his head in disdain. "I barely hit you, what are you talking about?"

I went to respond, but Batman beat me to it. "Tommy, can you come here for a minute? I want to test the limits of your strength some more." Giving Batman a grateful look, I stumbled to my feet and avoided the eyes of my new teammates as I walked off the mat. "Billy, don't go too far. I still want to test your abilities, see what exactly you can do now."

"Aye aye, sir." I mumbled, taking the tissues Miss Martian offered me with a smile. Once Batman left with my brother, I turned to M'gann and asked her how bad I did fighting my twin.

"Honestly...it was a little rough." She winced when she spoke, rushing to finish her thoughts. "But don't worry, you'll get better! It's probably only because Tommy has the speed and strength on his side."

I snorted, immediately regretting my choice when pain radiated in my skull. Scowling instead, I turned to my new friend Tim, who I've become close with since joining the team a week ago. "Were you this bad when you became Robin?"

He shook his head. "No, I was much better than you, but I also had some training before hand."

With a sigh of defeat, I sulked into the lounge area to find Pietro chatting with Jason and Artemis. Those three in particular have been avoiding me since I had contacted Wanda and Scarlet in the reality stone, not that I blame them. I mean, They were all really close to her and to find out she was still alive-ish from a complete stranger? Yikes.

I sent the trio a small smile as I tossed the used and bloodied tissues in the trash, sinking back into myself when they just gave me blank stares in return. Guess I shouldn't have thought I would have gotten any different of a response. At least it was better than the outright hostility Pietro was showing me the first few days I was in the cave.

Turning to head back to the training room, I almost screeched out loud when I came face to face with my twin. Tommy grinned when he saw the surprise on my face. "Batman is done with me already, that's how fast I am. He wants to see you in the lab." I glanced over my shoulder, noticing the trio exchanging looks before settling their gazes on me. "Come on!" Tommy threw me over his shoulder, speeding out of the room and into the lab.

I wasn't that shocked to find the Justice League's resident science nerd, the Flash, there along with most of my team. I mean, we were all curious to see what I could do. Even Pietro, Jason, and Artemis wandered in and stood at the back as I took a seat on the cot in front of Batman and the Flash.

"Take your shirt off so we can attach these electrodes to your chest." The Flash commanded, making me flush. I did what I was told, shivering a bit as the cold air hit my bare skin. The Flash went about attaching electrodes to my head, chest, arms, and legs, presumably to monitor my bodily functions during the tests. I gulped, looking up at the speedster as he turned the machine on. "Okay Billy, we are going to test what we saw first at the Hall. I want you to concentrate on creating lightning like you did against Thanos, got it? Team, you might want to watch from the other side of the glass." Everyone left the room, including Batman and the Flash, who continued to speak to me through the intercom. "Focus on what you felt that day, okay? You got this."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the feeling of the near death experience from a few days ago. My heart rate picked up and I felt my hands start to tingle, feeling like constant static shock on every nerve of my palms and fingers. I opened my eyes to see a ball of blue lightning sitting between my hands, sparks of light shooting out every now and then. I let out a breathy laugh, looking up at the observation window to see a proud smile on Tommy's face.

"Good job. Now, we are going to see if you can create that portal again. Try and portal away the pen I just placed on the floor." I looked down to see a ball point pen laying on the ground a few feet in front of me. I narrowed my eyes at the pen, lifting my hand and aiming my palm at the writing utensil. I concentrated on making the pen go away, focused on the burning sensation I felt right before the portal appeared for Thanos.

I gasped when a ball of blue fire shot out of my palm and incinerated the pen. I looked at the observation window with amazement, a childish glee filling my body. "I wish I could do that again." Another blue flame flew out of my hand, crashing into the floor and disappearing without leaving a mark. I gaped at my hands, excitement flooding through me.

"Billy...you're glowing again." Tommy spoke through the intercom, a touch of awe in his voice. "Try to do the portal now."

I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut. I thought about being in the hall with the others, looking in on the laboratory like them. When I heard a sharp inhale, I opened my eyes to see that it had worked, I was now standing next to Tommy. I let out a little laugh before doubling over, drunk on the excitement of discovering new abilities.

I jumped a little when I felt a hand on my shoulder, looking up to see the Flash smiling at me. "I think that is enough testing for one day."

Shaking my head with a chuckle, I brushed the Flash's hand off my shoulder. "If I can do those things, what else can I do? I want to see all my abilities."

My body was overcome with tingles similar to what I felt just moments before as I was brought back into the lab in a blink of an eye. I looked down at my hands, seeing an electric blue aura surrounding my entire body. I quirked a brow and the electrodes on my body went flying off, landing on the cot in an instant. Startled, I jumped a little bit, but my feet never touched the ground. I glanced down, noticing that I was floating a good foot and a half off the floor of the lab. I gulped, suddenly not finding this as fun anymore. Putting my foot out to touch the ground, I yelped when a blue disk appeared under my foot the same color as the aura that still surrounded me.

I felt a panic start to rise within me, becoming overwhelmed as ice started to form on my hands and the lights started to get brighter and brighter. I started to gasp for air as my throat become constricted from anxiety. Making eye contact with Tommy through the glass, I could see the panic in his own eyes as I tried to control the new power surging through every nerve in my body.

As if sensing my loss of control, Batman rushed to the door and tried to open it to no avail. It had become frosted shut due to the ice storm I had accidentally created. I put my freezing hands over my glowing eyes, trying my hardest to calm the raging power within me. I squeezed my eyes shut once more, shouting out in distress. "Stop it! Stop! Make it stop! Please, no more! I can't take it!"

I felt a burst of otherworldly energy explode out of me, heard the glass of the observation window shatter, heard the startled screams of my teammates and brother, and felt the energy to stay upright drain out of me as I collapsed in a heap on the ground.

The glass crunched under the feet of the others as they came storming into the room. I felt my brother's arms wrap around me, so I rested my head on his chest and listened to the calming rhythm of his heartbeat as he addressed the group. "I think that is enough testing for today."

I closed my eyes in shame, feeling the burn of the gazes of my friends on me as I buried my face further into Tommy's chest. I sensed someone kneel next to me and only looked up when they cleared their throat to see Batman crouched next to me with a soft smile on his usually stoic face. That had me nervous. "Billy, we haven't seen power levels like yours since...since Wanda, actually. Don't be ashamed that you don't have control over them, it took her awhile to get a hang of her powers. You did good, kiddo."

I nodded tiredly, completely exhausted. But not too exhausted that I missed the look exchanged between Pietro and Dick.