Ice Storms

"Okay, Dawnie, you're up," Lucy said, glancing at her friend.

Dawnie glanced at her once and then proceeded to ignore her. She adjusted the straps of her sundress impatiently and cracked her neck. Checking her sandals, she frowned at them.

"They're gonna melt," she complained.

"They're not gonna melt," Lucy returned.

"I know they're gonna melt and then we're gonna hafta pry the smoking remains off of my feet. Again," Dawnie retorted.

"Stop being a drama queen. Those sandals are transitory things," her brother said, rolling his eyes. "The info says he likes black girls. You're a black girl. Go for it."

"There are times," Dawnie began.

"Dawnie," Lucy broke in. "We could be at this all day or you could just go in, flirt with the perv for a few seconds, grab the stupid thumb drive and we could all get on with our day."

"And I have Mocha Caramel IWAs," Court added, dangling a bar in his hand.

Dawnie's green eyes lit up at the sight. If there was a flavor she absolutely adored, it was Mocha Caramel which was considered a limited-edition product. She glared at her brother who'd also sat up and directed his attention to Court.

"I'm on it," she said, marching towards the club.

"It's in his jacket pocket," Lucy called out.

"Is this going to work?" Court asked.

"Of course, it's going to work. Boys are easy." Lucy shrugged.

"And what about San and Aarti?" Court asked.

"They said something about getting some ice." Lucy turned her attention towards the phone in her hand. It showed a video feed of what Dawnie was seeing.

*******

"This isn't a good idea," Aarti said, pushing an impatient hand through her short hair. It was starting to grow out and she hadn't had time to find a stylist to fix it.

"It's a good idea." San slowly pushed up a boulder of ice. He glanced around. "I've never been here, but I've heard the stories."

"We've all heard the stories, but the Abominators nuked the crap out of this place," Aarti replied.

"That's us, not here. It should still be here safe and sound." San stamped a few times and then turned in another direction.

"Yeah, with all the bells and whistles and destructive stuff. Can we be in and out before he gets here?" Aarti asked. "It's not like you're in the database."

"But my genes are," San said, giving her a brilliant smile that caused her to frown. "It's an adventure, Aarti! An adventure!"

"Adventure, my sword and shield," Aarti muttered, following after him.

*******

"And what happened to 'It's an adventure, Aarti!'" Aarti screamed as she ran. Around her, beams of light bounced off of the ice and left smoking little pits of water that almost immediately froze over.

"It's still an adventure," San said, panting. "I need to work out more," he complained.

"We all know what you need to do more," Aarti snarled, jerking at just the right moment. She was left with a smoking lock of hair. "You so owe me another haircut!"

"I'm not paying $200 so Ms. Richie Rich can have cool hair," San shot back, snagging her arm and yanking her into another corridor.

A veritable herd of drones shot past the corridor's entrance, lasers blazing. Aarti stared wordlessly at San who shook his head and continued walking until he reached a large door. Placing his hand on the plate next to it, the door paused for a moment before slowly opening.

"This is so not a good idea," Aarti complained.

"But it's the only one we've got." San walked through the door. "It's been three months and every lead we've found has led to a dead end. We both know what they're going to do, especially since they've had so long to set it up."

"This is going to leave a trail," Aarti continued.

"We're going to start leaving one just by being here. Just be thankful we found the stupid hat. Ruby paid us two more of those one-ways for it," San grinned. "Just think of how much—"

"—No," Aarti shook her head for emphasis. "We're giving whatever we don't need back after this. She was nice enough to help in the first place, even if it was for a bounty of hers. The Dime Store isn't a place you owe favors."

"Fine." San rolled his eyes as he examined the plinth in front of him. There were lots of little rods inscribed with very fine writing. "Do you still have the translations?"

"I don't think they're accurate. I never even heard of attack drones."

"Nuked, remember? I'm sure it's all sunshine and fairy tales in their memories and who has rain clouds in memories?" San asked.

Aarti passed him the paper and slumped on the floor by the door. She leaned her head back against the cool surface of the wall and glanced around at all the magnificent blue and white around her. She heaved a sigh.

"If we leave a trace, you know who's going to get involved, don't you?" Aarti asked.

"They're already involved whether they know it or not. There's probably some mystic whatsit who's already spreading doom and gloom and 'hey! There's some sort of ultradimensional thingie going on y'all should pay attention to' out there."

"Your Southern's showing."

"I'm proud to say I was friends with Kaylen, no matter what happened," San said, his expression turning somber.

"Yeah, Kaylen was the best. You think there's a version of him here? Somewhere?" Aarti asked.

"You never know, but Kaylen was the first who got away. He's probably not even a glimmer in someone's eye. You know we're not," San said, finally plucking out four rods and inserting the first into center of the plinth.

A map of the world appeared, hovering in front of them. San inserted another rod and a glowing red dot showed up. Aarti pushed herself up from the floor, disbelief writ large on her face.

"That's Gotham."

"That's a problem," San corrected. "Let's go before we're really busted."

*******

Two hours later, the owner of the fortress showed up, a frown on his face. There were fresh bits of ice scattered around and an oblong hole punched into one of the walls. He traced the edges of the hole before following the signs of destruction.

When he reached the plinth room, he paused, staring at the holographic map and the glowing red dot. He punched the communicator on his belt.

"Bruce? I think we have a problem."