Growing Pains - Chapter 38
Near complete silence was the answer to my entrance. Only the normal sounds of tropical birds and insects in the background and the distant sound of the ocean confirming that I actually had been transported after the mirror dimension-thingy collapsed.
Honestly? Pretty disappointing.
The Circe hologram had made it sound like the mirror was under attack or something I was expecting someone to be – oh, there they were.
The real Circe - I assumed anyway - was standing off to my left along with the familiar trio of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. None of them looking like they were doing anything more than standing around waiting for something to happen. Which was weird because the warning mentioned something triggered some protections, but it didn't look like there had been a fight anywhere…unless…
Crap, how badly did I break the mirror by sequence breaking the labyrinth? Maybe if I don't bring it up they won't know…
"This is the girl that was trapped in the mirror?" Circe snorted. "Well, she's certainly ambitious. Shame about her fashion-sense though…"
Well screw you too lady. "Hey! It isn't exactly easy making something without the right tools. If anything it's your fault for not putting them in there!"
"Califa, is that really you?" Wonder Woman asked before everything devolved into an argument.
I grinned at her and spread my arms and by extension, the cape - so I looked bigger and more imposing. "Of course. After years of imprisonment I am now free to conquer the galaxy! Earth will be the first of many worlds in my new galactic empire!"
"Galactic empire, is it?" Superman chuckled before pointing below me. "And who's your friend?"
I glared at him. "X-ray vision is cheating." because there was no other way he could have known –
"You moved the cape. We can all see her." Batman pointed out.
Donna responded by immediately pushing me off her shoulders and shrugging out of the rest of the costume. "Thank the gods that's over with." She muttered before turning back to one person in particular. "Hello Diana. Do you, uh, do you remember me?"
I caught a few uncomfortable glances passing between most of the adults while a complicated expression formed on Wonder Woman's face.
"No. I'm sorry to say we've never met before."
"Oh."
Now it was Donna's turn to have a complicated expression. We had practiced a few different ways this meeting could go. Wonder Woman completely not recognising Donna at all wasn't one we really considered.
I noticed Wonder Woman opening and closing her mouth like she was trying to figure out how to say something, but she ran out of time. While I had managed to drag Donna out of moping constantly about the whole 'not being a person before stealing a spark of divinity' thing, the fact Wonder Woman left her behind was still a bit of a berserk button.
Something Wonder Woman found out when Donna let the intrusive thoughts win and punched her in the face hard enough to send her flying through the air before charging after her screaming the whole time.
I sighed at that but didn't move to help either way.
If Donna wanted to vent by punching her friend in the face until they worked everything out, I wasn't going to stop her.
"Anyway, while we're waiting for that to wrap up - how are things? How long was I gone and did anything cool happen?" I asked the tense looking heroes.
"Don't you think we should do something about that?" Superman asked, still watching the fight.
I saw that look. Let other people have fun fighting each other, dammit! "Nah, it's fine. Anyway, while they're getting acquainted, details! I wanna know."
"You were gone for two weeks from our perspective." Batman informed me. "Though it looks like it was longer from yours. You've grown."
I preened and straightened up a bit.
He was right! I had finally gone through a growth spurt and didn't have to worry about all the random aches that came with it! At least until the next one.
Now I was just as tall as Donna, which made sparring much more fun since she couldn't just hit me beyond what my shorter limbs could reach, but I noticed I was still shorter than even Circe, the smallest of the welcoming group.
"Yeah, Wonder Woman's Aunt Circe mentioned time worked differently inside the mirror." There was a choking sound as the sorceress in question swallowed wrong and started coughing. "She gave us a message that someone was messing with the mirror and sped up time for us. I was in there for…"
I paused while I counted the time. Batman and Superman looked worried and Circe was still coughing.
"...thirty five days? I think? We spent a while underground, it was hard to keep track."
The two heroes sighed in relief at the only slightly longer timeframe, then winced when I mentioned Donna had been in there for years.
"About that…what Diana wanted to say–"
"No, hold up! Go back!" Circe interrupted, finally getting over her coughing fit. "What was that about me being that brat's aunt? Why would anyone come up with such an obvious lie?!"
I frowned at her. "I mean that's what Donna said you were when we saw that magic recording. And you mentioned that you couldn't wait to rub it in her mom's face that you were the first to congratulate her for passing warrior training so I thought…"
"Urg, well now I definitely know why I couldn't bypass the karma link. Me and Hippolyta getting along?" She actually gave a full body shudder at the thought, but I was confused.
"We determined the mirror originally is from another reality." Batman helpfully explained. "What Wonder Woman was trying to say earlier is that there was no way for her to be the same person your friend thought she was."
"Huh, I wonder if that is going to make her abandonment issues better or worse." I pondered. On the one hand, her Diana probably didn't just abandon her for no reason. On the other, the only other person she thought she knew was actually a stranger.
While I was thinking about what to do about that, there was a boom in the distance from one of the Amazons being slammed into something solid.
"Looks like they finished." Superman noted. "Let's go get them and get your friend up to speed."
"Great! And while you're at it, get off my island!" Circe snapped at us. "I need to go get
very drunk so I can forget all about today. Friendly enough to be called that brat's aunt? What a nightmare."
"Kay, bye then!" I gave her a lazy wave and flew off towards where Donna and Wonder Woman were.
If she didn't want us around that was fine. I was just going to grab Donna and drag her to the first all you could eat buffet I could find.
A month without eating was hell. I couldn't even imagine not doing it for years.
-o-
"By the gods, I can't believe I did that…" Donna whined as she hid her face in her hands. "I just…and she was…and then she wasn't even the right person!"
"Donna, I told you, you are forgiven. You couldn't have known and thought I had abandoned you. It's no surprise you were emotional. Besides," Wonder Woman shifted to give me an amused look. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with, with
this one before. If anything you gave me more time before attacking than she would have."
For some reason that made Donna blush even more and attempt to hide her head even lower.
I simply ignored her and focused on the mound of potstickers in front of me. Food was more important than banter at the moment.
"Just be careful in the future. Most people would be seriously hurt if you hit them that hard." Superman warned as he focused on his own food, causally blocking my attempt to swipe some of his chicken when I thought he wasn't paying attention.
So I switched targets to Batman, who didn't seem to be all that interested in eating in the first place. Oh well, more for me.
"I wouldn't! I know how to hold back, it's just…"
"We're not blaming you." Batman reinforced. "Just warning you for the future. It's something we remind Califa of from time to time."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't hit someone hard unless they prove they can take it." I waved him off. "Talk later. Food now. And Donna! Try something! You haven't eaten anything in years. I want to know your favorites so we can get you caught up." In a moment of great self sacrifice, I traded my plate filled with some kind of stir fry with her still empty one and shoved a fork in her hand.
"She's right, you know." Wonder Woman commented. "If you want to try a bit of everything you should start now before Califa gets us kicked out. Heroes or not, that only buys us so much goodwill when faced with a hungry Saiyan."
I could only grumble at that.
Stupid lying restaurants. If you're going to have an all you can eat buffet, you should expect to feed someone all they can eat. It's in the name!
"I suppose…" Donna looked uncertainly at her plate but eventually caved and took a bite. Everyone paused to see how the younger Amazon would react to her first meal, even me.
The effect was immediate.
As soon as the flavorful sauces hit her tongue Donna froze before looking down at the stir fry like it was the most amazing thing in the world. Then she started shoveling the food into her mouth as fast as possible, barely taking the time to chew. In less than a minute Donna had practically cleared her plate and began looking for more.
Recognizing the danger, I hovered protectively over my own food and focused on scarfing down my own food while Donna began scavenging from the other three, who were much more accommodating of her stealing food than they were me.
I'd have complained about favoritism, but I didn't miss the little glances Donna was sending my way.
If I showed the slightest weakness, she would strike.
It didn't take long before both of us were scraping empty plates, which meant Donna turned her attention from our table to the buffet line not too far away. My eyes widened when I realized the rest of my food was still in danger from the hungry Amazon.
We locked gazes, and then by an unspoken signal both rushed to refill our plates before everything was eaten by our hungry rival. As I dashed towards the rest of the food I only barely caught Superman sighing in the background.
"Wonderful, now there are two of them…"
In the end we did get kicked out of the restaurant, but for once it was because we had actually finished off all the food they had cooked up and not because they felt like we had been eating too much. I wasn't completely full, but it felt good getting a good meal after going without for so long and especially seeing Donna enjoy herself.
"If that's the kind of food you eat regularly, I can see why you were so upset about nothing in the mirror tasting good." My sparring buddy commented as we left.
"Oh don't worry, I'm going to show you all kinds of great things." I promised. "Next time we'll get the Flash to show us a place. He's really good at recommendations."
Wonder Woman sighed behind us. "Try not to surprise him. Dealing with your appetite is hard enough. The two of you might traumatize him."
"I'll make sure he's compensated while dealing with those two." Batman mentioned. "At least until something more permanent can be established."
I perked up at that. More food with Batman covering the bill meant we could get as much as we wanted! But first…
"Okay, now for dessert! Donna, time to introduce you to the wonderful stuff known as ice cream!"
"Jeeze, they can still eat more? Where do they put it?" Superman commented, but I was busy dragging Donna off by her wrist. Ice cream awaited!
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