Chapter 3: Advice from the Dragon-Bat
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The inside of Casa de Quinnzel-Isley-Wilkes was as unique and eclectic as the family who lived there. The soothing perfume of flowers hung in the air from the potted plants on every table, and the walls were painted in bright colors and fun designs. Even the furniture spoke of personality, with no two chairs alike. Some items were probably older or second hand, bought from thrift shops and yard sales, due mainly to Ivy’s dedication to conservation, but it also made the entire space feel personal and well loved by the people living here.

 

The walls were also covered with a strange variety of pictures. Old wanted posters of Colin’s moms hung proudly beside family photos. Shots of Harley with her arms around two huge hyenas were paired with Ivy proudly holding up a large potted carnivorous plant. However, the strangest picture was front and center in the living room wall. It was black and white, taken from a news clipping or internal report, showing a young doctor in glasses and a white coat, interviewing a very angry woman in a prison jumpsuit with long distressed hair. Lara paused to look at the picture, seeing the faint words “Arkham Asylum” written on the wall behind the doctor. 

 

It took a moment for it to click together in the young girl’s head. “Is this you and Harley?” Lara asked, trying not to sound too surprised.

 

“It is.” Ivy gazed at the picture with a contented sigh. “The day we first met. This picture was taken as part of my processing. Things were so different for both of us back then.” She was quiet for a moment before checking in the kitchen and calling her son’s name. “Colin, sweetie! Lara’s here!”

 

“Great!” Came the young man’s call from down the hall. “I’m in the gym!”

 

Ivy led Lara down past the open doors of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a small, but well-equipped exercise room. Colin was laying down on the weight bench, pressing what looked to be over a hundred pounds without much effort. 

 

“98… 99… 100!” Colin put the bar on the rests and sat up. “Hi Lara! I’d hug you, but I’m kinda gross. Me and the guys were training.”

 

“The guys?” Lara asked, seeing no one else in the room.

 

“Yep. Meet Amy, she’s doing cardio,” Colin gestured to a red-brown hamster in a ball that rolled across the floor from behind the treadmill, “and that’s Rory working on his arms.” He pointed to the power rack in the corner where an old, well-loved teddy bear was hanging from the top.

 

“I’ll leave you kids to chat.” said Ivy, with a smile. “Call me if you need anything.”

 

“Thanks, Momma.” said Colin, as Ivy closed the door behind her.

 

Lara was slightly taken aback by Colin’s appearance. He was wearing sweatpants and a sleeveless sports top that showed off his arms, which were surprisingly muscular for a 14 year old. She wondered if he was using his powers to give himself extra muscle mass, or if he was this strong without any help.

 

Colin grinned as he took a swig of water from a bottle next to the bench. “Sorry, you caught me in the middle of my work-out.” He said, gesturing for Lara to sit on the bench next to him. “It’s a guy thing, but you probably don’t wanna talk about that. How’re you doing, Lara?

 

“I’m good,” said Lara, as Amy the hamster rolled over to greet the newcomer. Lara smiled down at the little rodent. “She’s cute. I didn’t know you had a hamster.”

 

“Oh yeah,” said Colin, leaning down and scooping Amy out of the ball, letting her rest in his hands. “She was a birthday gift from Damian, last year. She’s named after…” He glanced over at the teddy bear hanging on the gym equipment. “Well, I already had Rory, so I figured…”

 

“Oh, right!” grinned Lara, getting the reference. “Amy and Rory. That’s cute!”

 

Colin nodded, “Momma got me a blooming cactus too, and suggested that I name it The Doctor to complete the set. But that seemed a bit much, so I named that one after Dami.”

 

Lara laughed, but she wasn’t sure if her friend was joking. A tiny, dry and  bristly cactus did seem like the appropriate plant for Colin’s boyfriend. She smiled and leaned back on the weight bench. “That’s adorable!”

“Dami thought so too.” The young man sighed happily, leaning back as he thought about his cute boyfriend, and how he had blushed when Colin had told him the name of the little succulent. It was a side of the young Robin that few ever saw. After a moment he realized just how long he had been caught up in his daydream and returned his attention to Lara. “Sorry, I was miles away. How was the end of school?”

Lara smiled, guessing very accurately just where her friend had been. “Not bad, all things considered. The end of the year was more tiring now that I have my new ‘after school job’.” She added air quotes, that being the family line about patrolling with her dad if anyone asked why she was so busy.

 

Colin nodded in understanding. “Oh, I totally get it. I have an “unpaid internship” with Mr. Wayne that takes up a lot of my free time.” He leaned in conspiratorially, “Between us, no one at my school believes that line. They all think me and Damian are just making out in a Wayne Industry supply closet every other night! Still, that story does the job just as well, and it’s more accurate than the first one!”

 

The two young heroes shared a good laugh before Lara sighed and continued, “Between that and… you know, dead names, misgendering, cafeteria food getting worse, all that junk, let’s just say I’m happy it’s summer.”

 

Colin reached out and put a comforting hand on her arm. “You’ve made it through some of the worst parts, Lara. That’s the important thing. By next fall, you’ll be out to the world! Then you can go back to worrying about the normal superkid problems! Like if Darkseid might decide to invade!”

 

She laughed at his good point. Living in a world of superheroes, problems came in all shapes and sizes. This was her duty as Supergirl, and even when her identity was respected by her teachers and classmates, that part of her life still wasn’t going to be easy. 

 

She paused remembering something that had been bothering her. “Speaking of problems, do you mind if I pick your brain about something?”

 

“Sure!” He answered quickly before pausing, “As long as you mean that figuratively…” He chuckled. “This is Gotham, so I gotta make sure. You can never be too careful in this town.”

 

“Of course not literally, you dummy!” Lara laughed, playfully slapping her friend’s arm.

 

“Proceed then.” Colin nodded his head, and offered Lara the chance to hold Amy the hamster for emotional support as she told her story.

 

She accepted the furry little friend, holding the squeaky fluff ball gently in both hands as she thought how best to begin. The warmth and soft fur was actually rather comforting. “Well… you see I have this friend Isabelle, but everyone calls her Izzy. And she’s been acting strange since I came out to her.”

 

“Ok. Strange how?” Colin asked, wanting to get more information before he made any comments. From that little she had said, he would guess that maybe Lara or Izzy might have had a crush, and this would be a matter better suited to his moms’ expertise. Girl crushes were far outside of the young gay man’s skillset. 

 

“Well… It’s just that…” Lara struggled to think of how best to explain it. She had been worried that she was overthinking the entire situation, but it just didn’t seem like something she could just ignore. “I guess she… well, maybe… I think Izzy might be trans too…”

 

Colin perked up, excited that this could potentially mean another trans boy to hang out with “Oooo! Another egg spotted? Tell me more!”

 

“Egg?” Lara asked, not familiar with the word being used in that sense.

 

“A closeted trans person. It means they haven’t fully figured out that they’re trans just yet.” Colin tried his best to explain. “To keep the metaphor going, you were an egg when we first met, but you cracked pretty soon after that.” 

 

“Oh, Ok!” Lara nodded with understanding. “Yeah I get it now.” She liked the mental image that the nickname brought to her mind, a beautiful trans person popping out of the shell of their old unhappy closeted self. 

 

“So what makes you suspect Izzy is one of us?” Colin asked again. “You said that you came out to them, right?”

 

“That’s right.” nodded Lara. “But even before then, she… I mean…!” She paused, uncertain about what pronouns she should be using to discuss her friend.

 

“Use they/them if you’re not sure.” said Colin, helpfully.

 

“Right.” said Lara, “Anyway, Izzy’s always said that they hate dresses and pretty much dislikes being a girl. But I never really thought much about it until recently…”

 

Colin nodded slowly, with his brow slightly furrowed in thought. “Go on…” he said slowly.

 

“Well, I came out to Izzy a few weeks ago, and… Well, it was a weird reaction.” explained Lara. “At first, she… I mean… they were super happy for me, and even offered to swap clothes with me. It was great!”

 

Colin smiled, glad that Lara had such supportive friends.

 

Lara continued. “When Izzy found out I was trans, it was like some kind of huge mindblowing idea to them. Like it changed everything for them.” 

 

Colin let out a small chuckle. “Heh. Remind you of anyone, Miss Kent?”

 

Lara blushed slightly, knowing exactly what Colin meant. She had had almost the exact same reaction when she had first learned that Colin was trans. The revelation had completely bewildered her and helped her to realise her true self. She smiled, and gave a small shrug, before carrying on with her story.

 

“Everything seemed to be good, but then I slipped up and…” Lara sighed as she remembered her poor choice of words. “I kinda asked Izzy if they wanted to have a “girls night” with me. Our talk pretty much ended there. It was a little awkward.”

 

“Ah.” said Colin. “I see.”

 

Lara looked down at her hands, and noticed that Amy the hamster had fallen asleep. “Oh…” Lara said. “Is there somewhere I can put her?”

 

“Yeah.” said Colin, standing up and retrieving a clear plastic box from under the bench. “Her container’s just here. I’ll take her up to her burrow later.” He gently picked Amy up and placed her in the container, on top of a nest of shredded paper, before closing the lid, which had air-holes poked into it.

 

Lara continued her story, as Colin walked over to the end of the room and placed Amy’s container on the shelf next to the door, where he would remember to take her upstairs later.

 

“I haven’t really spoken to Izzy about it since then.” she explained. “We haven't had a chance to hangout outside of school, where I’m still… “undercover”... If you know what I mean…”

 

Colin nodded sympathetically. “I know how that feels, and it must also be pretty rough if you’re also concerned about Izzy.” He sat back down next to Lara and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Lara. There’s no way for us to really tell what the situation with Izzy is. They could be trans, non-binary, genderfluid, or maybe they’re just questioning.”

 

“Thanks, Colin.” said Lara. “I just feel like I could be doing more to help Izzy figure things out. Maybe we could…?” It was at that point that Lara suddenly remembered one of the other reasons she had wanted to visit Colin, and she grinned.

 

“Hey, I just remembered something!” She grinned at Colin. “Do you wanna come to my birthday party?”

 

The redhead looked bemused. “I thought I was already invited?”

 

“No, I mean MY party!” laughed Lara. “Not Supergirl’s. I mean the smaller one that I’m having on the actual day, with just a few close friends. Damian can come too.”

 

“Two birthday parties with you and Damian? Oh yeah! I’d love to come!” His enthusiasm was dialled back a little, as he realized what Lara was getting to. “Ooooh, and then I could meet Izzy too and see what you’re talking about for myself.”

 

“Yeah, but I’d still be inviting you to the second party, even if I wasn’t worried about Izzy. You’re a fun guy to spend time with, Colin.” She smiled warmly. She might not have known Colin for as long as Izzy, Laurence, or Damian, but he had done so much to change her life in that short time, that she was happy to call him a friend.

 

“Thanks again, Lara!” Colin grinned. “Don’t tell Damian, since he’s been helping to plan the Supergirl party, but I think I’ll have more fun at the Lara Kent party. Less formal, just a bunch of kids hanging out.” 

 

“Oh, absolutely.” Lara agreed. Sure, she would get to spend a lot of time with her Superhero friends and “cousins”. But it was also nice to be able to just spend some time as a normal kid, every once in a while. “We’re still trying to figure out where to hold the second party. We might be too small a group to do something like rent out the arcade, but we could do a movie or go to the bowling alley?” 

 

“Well, just let me or my moms know when you’ve got it all planned out.” Remembering something, Colin checked the time on his phone. “Speaking of moms… How much longer do you think this interview will be? I thought I’d be having to distract mom from showing Lois the photo albums by now.”

 

“Oh, Mom’s been looking forward to this one.” Lara smiled with pride. “She’s been trying to talk Perry into running it as the front page story for weeks but I’m not sure if she managed it. Your moms have done a lot of good with their clinic!” 

 

“I know, right!” Colin smiled proudly. “Hey, I don’t suppose you could… You know, use x-ray vision and see how far along they are down there, could you?” 

 

Lara shook her head. “Sorry, I haven’t completely figured out how to do that yet. If I focus the wrong eye muscles, I could blast a hole through the floor. I could try listening to what they’re saying, but there’s a lot of noise outside.” 

 

The young red head shrugged, “Never mind then. I’m sure we will both get the full story when they come upstairs…” He smiled a bit mischievously, “Want to know a story about the clinic that definitely won’t be in the article?” 

 

“It’s nothing about the people your mom is seeing, is it?” Lara knew enough about the rules for doctors and journalists to know that discussing stuff like that would be a big no-no. 

 

“Nah, mom knows better than to talk about that stuff. This is something that happened back when they first adopted me.” He got up from his seat and walked over to grab Rory and held the bear for comfort. “When they first brought me home, we weren’t living here yet. It was just the three of us in a two bedroom apartment in the Narrows.” 

 

Lara winced a little, familiar with the Narrows as the worst part of the Gotham slums. When it wasn’t under the threat of the local gangsters, it was usually a playground for Gotham’s many crazed supervillains.

Colin continued, “It wasn’t a good place to live, but with my moms, I felt safe there. Momma’s plants at every window and Mom’s skill with a baseball bat are enough to scare off most punks and thugs.”

 “Mom had already started her practice and was actually helping a lot of the same folks from the streets.” He smiled at the memory,  “We were helping others, and it was a happy life, but… well, there was only so much that they could do. People were still nervous about what Momma could do with plants and didn’t want to buy or accept her donated produce, and mom was seeing all her patients under the table.”

He picked a dumbbell and started fidgeting with it as he talked. “Money was tight… And one day, Batman found mom trying to break into a pharmacy in the middle of the night.” 

Lara’s mouth fell open. “Oh no…” She wasn’t sure who would be more surprised in that situation, but it had to have been bad.

“Oh yes.” Colin nodded. “He was furious with mom! Said he felt his trust had been betrayed… until he saw what she had been stealing. Puberty blockers and testosterone for me… She hadn’t been able to afford my medicine without insurance.”

Lara actually smiled at that. Harley had turned back to crime after months of the best behavior, but only as a way to help her son be happy. “What did Bruce do then?”

Colin smiled. “Well, after that, Bruce called off the cops and they had a talk. Mom never said exactly what they talked about, but she ended up putting everything back and the break in was ruled an act of vandalism. The next morning, mom got a phone call. Her clinic had been bought by Wayne Industries, giving her grant funding for a better office, benefits and everything that goes with it!”

“Whoa!” said Lara, looking around the room. “So, all of this was paid for by Bruce?”

 

Colin grinned. “Not exactly. Mom only wanted to spend the money on essential stuff. It wouldn’t look great if the three of us were all dependent on my boyfriend’s dad for everything.”

 

“Good point.” said Lara, “There’s no telling how long Damian would lord that over you.”

 

“True.” said Colin, “But anyway, once we were financially stable, and both Mom and Momma had gained the community’s trust, they started to make enough money to buy this place.” He gestured around at the gym, and the house. “It also helps that mom’s work has helped to reform a few former villains. That’s done wonders for her image!”

Lara suddenly remembered the incognito giant with the scaly tail who she had seen outside. “Wait… Killer Croc! Was that who I saw outside?!”

 

Colin winced a little, but then shrugged. No point keeping the secret if she already guessed it. “Yeah, that was Waylon. He looks scary but he’s really a nice guy. Mom says he’s making great progress and is trying to start a bakery in the neighborhood.”

 

“A bakery?” She repeated, trying not to giggle as she imagined the massive metahuman reptile in an apron and fluffy hat baking cookies. She knew she shouldn’t laugh if that was his dream. “Good for him.” She said finally.

 

“Oh yeah, I can’t wait till he gets it open. Look at this apple pie he brought for mom last week!” He set down the dumbbell he’d been messing with, and grabbed his phone, pulling up a picture of a little gator sculpted out of pastry.

 

Lara stared in wonder, “He made that? How did he do that with hands like his?” 

 

Colin shrugged it off. “Oh. that’s no problem. His girlfriend, Terri, has been a big help on the finer details of his work.”

 

“Killer Croc has a girlfriend?” said Lara. Somehow that was more surprising than the idea of Croc baking.

 

“Yeah, she’s nice! She’s a naturalist that works at the Gotham zoo.” Colin could see Lara was fighting to hold in a question and he smiled before answering her obvious query, “No, she doesn’t work in the reptile house.”

 

“Right…” Lara cleared her throat, feeling a bit awkward that she had been so transparent. She picked up the weight that Colin had put down.

 

“Don’t feel bad.” Colin smiled. “Terri gets that question a lot, but she’s used to it. She told me that she did initially befriend Waylon out of a professional interest. But he eventually won her over and… and…” He paused, staring at Lara’s hands.

 

“What?” She asked, catching the look. She glanced down, only then realizing that she had been tossing the weight back and forth between her hands as easily as a baseball or an apple.

 

“That’s a 30 pound weight…” Colin said, trying not to look too surprised. “Just how strong are you?” He started grinning mischievously.

 

“Not as strong as the rest of my family…” Lara said, gently setting down the weight. “I’ve never really tested my limits.”

 

“Hmm…” Colin stood up and grabbed the loaded bar he had been lifting when she had arrived. “Give this a try. I’m just curious to see what you can do.”

 

She cautiously looked at the weights and read the numbers. “150 pounds…? Yeah, I’ll give it a try.” She grabbed the bar and was surprised to find that she could lift it easily with one hand. “Huh…what do you know. I literally don’t know my own strength.”

 

Colin rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Alright then. Let’s put it to a real test!” he said, moving around the room, adding more plates to both sides of the bar. “Here’s 400 pounds. I’ll try it first...”

 

The redhead began to focus his powers and gradually grew a little taller and more muscular, before easily lifting the dumbbell over his head. “Ha! No match for the mighty Goliath!” Colin declared proudly, his voice sounding slightly deeper than before. He then set the weight back down and gestured for Lara to give it a try. “Here, let’s see how you do...”

 

Lara would have been hesitant to lift so much at first, but she was still feeling confident from her previous achievement. This time, she needed both hands to balance the weight, but she still brought it over her head without much effort.

 

Starting to worry he was in over his head, but too curious to stop now, Colin decided to set a personal challenge. “Ok. Big guns time!” He grabbed a few special looking plates from a different pile. “The world record for a deadlift by non-meta is 1104 pounds. This is 1200 pounds of weight. Something I’ve been saving for special training. Show me what you’ve got Lara!”

 

“1200...?” That did seem like a lot, even for the young Supergirl. Sure, her dad held up entire skyscrapers, but that was with several decades of experience and training. “Ok, Goliath...” Lara gave Colin a cocky grin. “Challenge accepted!” 

 

She took a deep breath and took the bar in both hands and pulled. Up it came with only a little resistance. “I did it!” She said happily, though she couldn’t hold the position long. Even at her strength it was hard to keep her arms extended with so much pushing down on her. Starting to finally break a sweat from the effort, she put the bar back down on its groaning rest platform.

 

“Great job, Lara! My turn now!” Colin focused again and grew even larger. The partial transformation was showing more of his beastly side as the beginnings of red fur and claws appeared on his arms and hands.

 

“Uh… Colin, you don’t have to do that…” Lara said, a bit nervous of her friend hurting himself.

 

“I got this!” Colin huffed out, though he was evidently struggling to just lift the bar off it’s stand. “More power!” He almost growled out. Again, he grew bigger, taller and hairier. Lara could actually see the beginnings of Colin’s tail sprouting from behind his sweatpants… In fact, it seemed like Colin couldn’t stop growing!

 

There was a loud ripping noise, as a pair of leathery bat-like wings began to tear their way out of the back of Colin’s sports top. “Uh oh…” said Colin, in a voice that sounded much more like a growl than anything else.

________________________________________________________________

 

Downstairs, Lois and Harley had finished up the interview, and Ivy was helping to lock up the office for the day. “Thank you so much for doing this, Harley!” Lois said, holding up her notebook. “When Perry sees how sweet a story this is, he’ll have to give you the front page!”

 

Harley beamed at her friend while Ivy finished tidying up. “No problem Lois. But don’t worry about getting us on the front page.”

 

“Yeah, knowing our luck, Oswald will steal the headlines by kidnapping Ringo Starr, again.” said Ivy, earning a laugh from Lois and Harley. “We’ll probably be moved back to human interests or health and leisure.” She opened the door to the apartment, sneaking a kiss from her wife as she walked past.

 

“Not if I can help it!” Lois said, confidently. “The work you two are doing is going to change so much about Gotham! We have to get the word out!” 

 

The former villains smiled at each other as they went up the stairs, knowing how passionate their friend could get about a cause such as this. “Well don’t spread the word to everyone all at once, Lane.” giggled Harley. “It’s only a small office, and...” 

 

All three women froze as the walls shook with a loud roar and a ringing crash from upstairs. “Colin!” Harley and Ivy cried out together, running up the remaining stairs.

 

“Lara!” Lois gasped, running just two steps behind them. They arrived at the gym and were greeted by little Amy running out the door from her overturned box and quivering at Harley’s feet.

 

The blonde bent down and gently held the trembling fluff ball. “Kids?” She called as the three moms peeked through the door.

 

It was chaos inside the room, but all three parents were so relieved no one was hurt that they were struggling not to laugh at the scene before them. The small gym was almost completely filled with a mass of wings and red fur. Colin, in his efforts to lift the weights, had accidentally fully transformed into Goliath. 

 

The dragon-bat actually looked embarrassed to be found like this. He gave a small grunt, and waved his paw at the three women. 

 

“Hey sapling.” Ivy asked in a gentle voice, reaching a hand in to pet Goliath’s fur. “You push yourself too hard again?” The beast grumbled and nodded his head. 

 

“Aww! Don’t be too hard on yourself, sweetie!” Harley moved in to comfort her son. “You’re still an amazing…”

 

The doctor was suddenly cut off by a muffled voice. “Not to interrupt a sweet moment, but could we please turn Colin back first!” Lara cried out from behind Goliath, “He has me pinned to the wall!”

 

“Lara?” said Lois, trying not to sound amused. “Are you okay, honey?” She tried to peer around Goliath. The dragon-bat shifted one of his wings a few inches away from the wall, revealing Lara, who was stuck in an awkward position halfway towards the ceiling, but otherwise unharmed.

 

“Phew! Thanks Colin.” Lara giggled, as she floated down to her mother. “Hey mom! Colin was just showing me the gym. I lifted 1200 pounds!” She grinned awkwardly up at Goliath. “Things got a little out of control, but we’re alright now.”

 

Lois gave her daughter a hug. “Glad to hear you had fun, sweetie. You gave us quite a shock though.”

 

“Sorry about that…” said Lara, before noticing Harley hurrying back into the room, having retrieved a large folded blanket. “Hey, what’s that for?”

 

“For preserving Colin’s modesty when he changes back.” Harley said in a

matter-of-fact tone. “Would you mind giving us a minute of privacy?”

 

Goliath let out a growl, which could have translated to “Mooooom!”, as Ivy led Lara and Lois out of the room and downstairs to the living room.

 

A few minutes later, Lara was sitting next to Lois on the sofa, and sipping a glass of Ivy’s homemade orange juice. Ivy and Lois were swapping stories and advice about raising children with superpowers, when Colin came down the stairs, now back in human form, wearing a baggy red hoodie and pyjama pants, clutching Rory the teddy bear.

 

“Hey Lara.” Colin smiled. “Sorry if I scared you earlier.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse.” Lara smiled. “Is Amy ok?”

 

“Yeah, she’s fine.” said Colin, as he sat down in an armchair with Rory. “Mom’s just putting her back in her burrow. She’s a tough Gotham hamster. It takes more than a 12-foot dragon-bat to scare her!”

 

“Good for her!” giggled Lara, before looking at the teddy bear in Colin's arms. “Mind if I ask what his story is? I didn’t get the chance earlier.”

 

“Oh, I’ve had Rory for as long as I can remember.” said Colin, resting the bear on his knee. “From living at the orphanage, to meeting Damian, to getting turned into Goliath, Rory and me have been through a lot together. Right, buddy?”

 

Lara smiled at the way Colin spoke to his stuffed toy. Most of the older kids at school would never admit to still sleeping with a teddy bear, let alone treating one with such affection. It was refreshing and heartwarming to see Colin being so affectionate and unashamed with Rory.

 

Lois looked at her watch. “We should probably make a move, Lara.” She said, getting to her feet. “It’s getting late.”

 

Lara stood up, as Ivy took her empty glass. “Thanks for having me, Ivy.” she said, smiling at the tall green lady.

 

“My pleasure, dear.” Ivy replied. “You and your mom are welcome here anytime. Your dad too.”

 

Lara then walked over to Colin, and gave her friend a hug. “It was good seeing you, Colin. Same goes for Amy and Rory… and Goliath too, I guess.”

 

“Sure thing, Lara!” Colin gave her a playful punch on the shoulder. “You keep training, girl. Next time we lift together, it can be your turn to smash up the place!”

 

After Lois and Lara had finished saying their goodbyes, they were soon on their way. The family had offered Lois and Lara the chance to stay for dinner, but with a long walk back to the teleporter, Lois had wanted to get home before dark. Besides, they all knew it wouldn’t be long till they would all see each other again. After all, there was a birthday party just around the corner...

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