"Ok, kids, keep close together! After we see the orcas, we'll have a lunch break after!" ordered the teacher, her voice echoing, dressed in her casual clothes.
The children galloped around screaming and chatting, most of them inches away from the glass. Through the glass was, to them, water that seemed to stretch outwards endlessly, with all sorts of plants and rocks scattered around the sandy ground.
"I can't see it!" moaned one of the children, and not long after, an orca swam across the glass, and all the children were entranced. Even the teacher was somewhat in awe; after all, it's not every day you get to see one up so close.
The teacher smiled, looking at all the children giddy with excitement.
"Can we pet it?" asked one of them, with their innocent-sounding voice.
The teacher chuckled, "No, I'm afraid you can't, Leo."
The doors on the entrance and exit slammed to the ground, making a loud thud. All of them looked in the direction of the sound, the kids nervous and the teacher worried.
"It'll be alright, kids; it's just a drill, like the fire drills we do in school, ok? Everything is fine, so keep looking at the orcas." She tried to ease their worry, and thankfully it worked. At least the kids felt safe. She turned on her phone while biting her nails to see that she had no signal. There was no way for her to call anyone. She tried her best to not show it, but she was scared; she knew this wasn't a drill.
*Pop* *Pop*
Two small explosions happened on each side of the glass; a thin crack raced across its surface.
The kids started to panic and huddled next to the teacher. "I'm scared!" whimpered one, trying not to cry.
"It'll be alright; someone will come to help us, there's no need to worry; everything will be fine!" she tried to ease their fear, but she herself tried to not cry as the crack along the glass started to spiderweb outwards.
Every screen in Michigan turned to static. People looking at their phones and computer screens couldn't help but be confused. Even all the digital billboards which stole the public's attention.
Now, all eyes were on him.
"Good morning, Michigan!" could be heard throughout the entire city. Their screens shifted to show a man in his usual attire and as cheerful as ever, his arms spread out wide. Sophist.
Hawkgirl was spending her morning doing the usual, stopping crime, though she was quite flustered and disgusted. On her patrol she had to stop a guy for publicly masturbating. It was not a good start to her day.
While flying past, feeling the breeze across her face before coming to a halt. She glared to her left at a massive billboard. "That prick! Really! Now?"
"Your most despised villain, Sophist, is back to torment you little souls once more. It's time for Scenario 4! Hawkgirl, I know you're watching, and I've set up a nice little playdate for you that I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss. You've been making excellent progress. Visit me at the Orca exhibit in Sea Life, and I can't preface this enough: you must come alone! If you don't? Well, let's just say I wouldn't want you getting a guilty conscience. Toodaloo!" His voice was calm and in his usual over-the-top performance style; he was getting quite used to the villain thing.
The screens turned to static once again before going back to normal, like it never happened.
Hawkgirl tried to contain her anger, her hand gripping her mace tight, her veins popping out. She immediately started to move to the location without a second thought.
She arrived at the location; people were running and screaming, trying to leave. Emergency vehicles parked outside with many officers trying to safely evacuate everyone from the premises. A small tent was made near the side of the car park, and high-ranked officers planned out what they should do along with a heavily armed unit. Reporters were being told to back away as a pair of helicopters stayed floating on the far edges of Sea Life.
Hawkgirl didn't give them a second of her time; she flew past it all and made her way to the orca exhibit. She hovered around 20 feet above the water, looking around her at all the empty seats. It was like a small colosseum.
"Welcome, Hawkgirl!"
A voice screamed behind her. She turned to face him. Sophist. "What is it this time!" she snarled at him as he was seated.
"Very eager, I see. Very well. In the underground viewing deck are roughly 15 children and their teacher. I've sealed them in by sealing the entrance and exit door shut. The safety glass is slowly deterioating as I denotated micro-explosives to weaken it and eventually, if you arn't quick enough, shatter. Killing all of them slowly and painfully. In order to open the door and save them you'll need a 3 digit code. Each digit you need is hidden somewhere inside the orca exhibit, so you'll have to go underwater to solve it. But that would be to easy wouldn't it? I have implanted brain chips into this pair of orcas and when I turn it on it'll trigger the parts of their brains associated with aggression and increase it, specifically towards you."
"You're a sick fuck, you know that," she retorted in anger.
"At least let me tell you the rules first. 1 - You are not allowed to use your mace or harm the orcas. I may be a 'sick fuck', but I draw the line at animal abuse. 2 - You aren't allowed any assistance or call for backup. You and you alone must save them."
Sophist teleported a few seats away; the one he was originally sitting on was now destroyed as a mace was cementing in it.
"That was uncalled for!"
"Can you at least shut the fuck up? Once I'm done with your shitty little game, I'm coming after you next!" she declared.
Sophist chuckled. "You do remember I can teleport, right?"
Hawkgirl physically stopped herself from replying, trying to contain her anger.
"I forgot to mention, you have around 10 minutes and 7 seconds until the glass completely shatters; good luck!" Sophist added.
Hawkgirl took a deep breath and then dived in, leaving a small trail behind her. She searched around frantically trying to find the digits needed. The water was dark and seemed to never end; it was disorientating.
She couldn't see them, but as soon as Hawkgirl entered the water, the orcas detected her immediately. From behind, an orca charged. First she was pushed forward as all the oxygen she had stored bubbled out, her painful scream muffled by the water. Her ribs broken, she rushed back up to the surface to regain her breath.
"Shit!" she mumbled to herself before diving back in. She immediately swam for the sandy floor to use the rocks as cover.
*Come on. Come on. Come on* she kept repeating to herself as she swam as fast as she could. She was almost there when she was slammed down, her head banging against the rock as the orca swam away. Shayera was able to keep the pain inside, trying to conserve her oxygen.
Using the rocks as cover, she moved herself along the almost maze-like layout, her skin grazing against them while the orcas clicked and whistled at each other.
She came across a small little tunnel that led to a small cave. She swam through and pushed her head outwards, gasping for air and coughing up water, in the tight little pocket of oxygen. As she regained her breath, she noticed a bright light, and she turned around. Still gasping and with water rushing down her face and helmet, there it was.
On a glowing scorecard, a number 9. She found her first digit.
She made her way out of the cave, and while hiding behind the rock, her hands holding onto it, she started to look for other light sources. She scanned the aquarium; first she spotted the safety glass.
She could see the children gathered around the teacher, crying, the safety glass now an array of cracks.
Then her eyes went towards the orcas, swimming around in circles hunting her down. Then she noticed the filtration vent. A bright light peeking through.
She made her way over to it using the rocks as cover, but they didn't go on forever. She was at the edge a few metres from the vent, and there was no cover between them. She was better at holding her breath thanks to Sophist, but even then she couldn't hold on much longer. She needed to act fast.
She waited until the orcas were as far away as possible, and then she made her move. She burst out from the rocks. It was now or never. She swam and swam, ignoring the clicking sounds getting louder.
She made it to the vent, and through the small slits she could see another scorecard and make out the number 3. Now she just needed one more, but she had no idea where it could be.
She turned around to immediately be slammed against the wall as the orca quickly ran away. She tried to swim up, but the second orca was coming at her fast. She couldn't reach the surface in time. The orca was close, and Hawkgirl could do nothing but look at the creature as it came closer and closer.
That's when she noticed. A light emitting from the orca's side. That was it. The last digit. The bastard put one of them on the orca itself.
She tried to manoeuvre out of the way, but the orca was too fast; it slammed her back into the wall. A small trail of blood left her nose and diffused out into the water.
Before she could even try to get herself moving again, the first orca returned and with its tail sent her flying above the water. Water rushed upwards like a geyser, with Hawkgirl in the middle.
Too disorientated and engulfed with pain, she tumbles back into the water, sinking towards the floor. As she fell deeper, an orca swam past above her, almost like it was mocking her. Like it was saying, "You can't save them!". She was running out of air and energy.
It was only for a few seconds, but she noticed it. A 7. The last digit. She had all the digits, the full code. her eyes filled with conviction as she bolted for the surface.
But what is a hawk in water compared to a whale? With another flick of its tail, she was sent geysering up along with large amounts of water. She started to fall again, but this time, with all her remaining strength, she used her wings. Harder and faster than ever before, and as her feet rippled the water below her, she flew up.
She floated upwards while coughing up all the water and made her way to the edge of the aquarium, where she fell to her knees. She was taking all the air she could get; she never knew that air could actually taste like anything, but right now it tasted amazing.
She got back up to her feet, wiping her nose along her arm as a shadow loomed over her. The orca had dived out of the water, a last attempt at ending her. She dived to the side, the orca's large body landing next to her.
"Holy shit!" she muttered in her ragged breathing before racing towards the underground viewing area. While she ran, the orca wiggled itself back into the water, clicking in anger.
She made her way to the keypad and tried all combinations, eventually freeing the trapped children and their teacher.
They rushed out crying, as the teacher gave her their upmost thanks before escorting the children away to safety.
Hawkgirl stood at the open door, sighing in relief.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
From behind, Sophist stood, slowly clapping to her victory. "Really well done, with more than 2 minutes remaining as well. I must say that was a truly impressive performance."
Hawkgirl turned around and flew towards him, her hand held out trying to grab his neck. The sophist lets her get inches close before teleporting back in the stands.
Her eyes burning from the water, with her armour, wings and hair dripping a puddle of water on the floor while she glared at Sophist. Angry. But curious. She needed answers.
"Why did you save that child?" she asked. She watched that day through her head and dreams over and over, replaying it. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that he saved that kid from falling.
"What child?"
"Don't play dumb with me! I saw you enter the glass container and stop that child. You saved everyone from falling to their death. Why?" She needed to know. She recalled what that nervous man in the coffee shop had said. What was his motive?
Mike stopped for a while to think how he should respond, leaving a tense silence between them. He couldn't tell her really why; she'll just call him a maniac again, and he still needed to play his role as the villain.
"Every little scenario of yours, there hasn't been a single death. Not one. Everyone makes it out safe."
"That's because you always save them, Hawk..."
"STOP LYING TO ME!" Shayera interrupted. "I'm not an idiot; I can tell when someone is lying to me. I shouldn't have saved all those people on the bridge, but according to Batman, you blew up just enough support cables so that I could have held it up. That glass box? You could have just let the glass break; it would have been my fault, but you let me save them."
Mike took a pause again. "I'll see you soon, Hawkgirl. I have something very special planned for you." Sophist tipped his top hat and teleported away, leaving Hawkgirl dripping wet and without answers.
"What aren't you telling me, Sophist?" she muttered to herself.