The first snow of winter fell the same day the Atom was jailed. It fell gently, blanketing Ivy City in a cool white cover. Nobody was outside- usually, the children would've been out playing, as it had been a Saturday, the day after Chronos was killed- however, because all of the cities food was stolen, not a single man was out. All of the stores were closed, their windows darkened- even though this was the first major crime to happen in the city in centuries, it had taken its toll on seemingly everyone.
On Sunday morning, a television broadcast came on, telling the citizens of Ivy to not worry- that the government was sending in food and water. Watching from the prison's rec room, Ray could tell that was a lie. They couldn't possibly have enough food for everyone in Ivy City- the country didn't have the bank account to handle something like this. Even now, he hadn't eaten since Friday morning, and had been beaten to a sorry pulp by the criminals he had jailed, not wanting to shrink or grow to fight them.
Ray had grown a paranoia of using his powers- not only was it severely frowned upon by the guards, he was afraid to kill someone like he had with Chronos. There was nothing he could do but wait until either he starved to death or he'd get beaten to death. Either way, it'd take a miracle for him to survive. A miracle named Arthur Light.
Sunday afternoon, while Ray was sitting in his cell, staring at the bleak pale white walls and trying to fend off his hunger, he heard the metal of his cell door open and close. Not turning to look, Ray sighed and said, "They told me a new roommate was coming in today." He commented, as he closed his tired blue eyes.
The new roommate smiled a bit sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes sir."
Ray couldn't help but crack a grin as he turned to the person who'd addressed him as 'sir.' "Don't worry. Nobody in here is in charge of anybody else. Whats your name?" He asked gruffly, scratching his lightly stubbled chin.
The new guy sighed in relief as he sat on the stiff bed. "Arthur. Arthur Light. Here for speeding." He chuckled nervously at the mention of it. The man was tall but scrawny- although, everyone was a bit scrawny during that particular weekend.
Ray snorted. "Here for speeding? That's rich. I'm-" he was interrupted by Arthur.
"Don't worry, I know, Atom. Murder." He said, not noticing Ray wince at the word murder. Rubbing a hand through his long, wispy blonde hair, he asked hurriedly- "So how you getting out?"
"What? No. No escape plans. No leaving. I'm here to stay." He said, looking down at the pants to his bright orange jumpsuit.
"Oh..." Arthur muttered, a bit disappointed. "Well, that's a lot more deaths under your name." He said vaguely, turning away as Ray raised a brow.
"What do you mean? I can't kill anyone by being in here." He commented, feeling defensive and responsible for his recent kill.
"Think of all the people that won't get food, Ray. Millions of people live in Ivy. You think they'll just make more, give it to us for free?" Arthur said dully, suddenly becoming very depressed from the thought of them not escaping as he leaned against the pale wall.
"I- I mean, even if I can get out, what good will it do? I still have no idea where the food is." Ray said, not believing that Arthur could get them both out of there and not wanting to believe he could do anything about it.
"No, you don't. Only two people who know." Arthur said, cracking his knuckles. "And one of them is in this prison. So, let me tell you about Lobo."
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During lunch break, when all the inmates could 'socialize', Arthur and Ray went to a large circle of criminals surrounding a couple of fighters. As they both joined the circle to watch they saw an inmate with pale white skin fighting three others. The main man was hardly breaking a sweat and he was dominating the much larger inmates, twirling around them and beating them into pulps.
As the small being finished off the last one, he jumped on top of his prey and started repeatedly bashing his fist into the other's face, stopping only when the guards came to drag him away- and even then he resisted the guards till they tranquilized him. Ten minutes later, he was awake and his hands bound tight, and the first people he saw when he awoke were Ray and Arthur.
Instantly, Lobo jumped up and bashed Ray in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground using his large, chalk white fist. "Shrinker!" He sneered, standing back as he cracked his neck. "Bout time you got in this slammer so I could knock yer teeth out." He went for him again, and Ray could just barely roll out of the way. Standing, he coughed a bit of blood and wiped it with the side of his jumpsuit.
"Dwarfstar?" He said slowly, now seeing the resemblance. Aside the skin and hair, Lobo was an exact copy of his former foe, Sylbert. "What happened to you?"
"I'll tell ya what. Big ol' space program, right after you put me in here. Picked a criminal at random to check out some ugly rock called Czarnia. Gave me some super-steroids to survive the gravity an' sent me away. People there treated me like they'd never seen a guy before! Gave me drugs- lots of em- and washed my mind with everything they knew." He tapped his forehead with a grin as he swung his large fists at Ray, sending him flying toward a plastic blue table. "Then? I killed em. All of them." He smiled menacingly, when all of a sudden Arthur ran at him and punched him in the ribs- to no avail.
Lobo turned to Arthur and smacked him away, roaring in bloodlust. However, just then, Ray found his voice. "Wait, wait- we can help you escape!" He pleaded, wiping more blood from his mouth. Lobo stopped for a second. He couldn't believe his ears. Atom helping him?
"Why?" He snarled, holding a plastic butter knife up to Ray's throat. "What do you want from it?" He pressed it against Ray's throat till drips of blood appeared.
"We need to know where Planck is hiding!" Ray said in an unnaturally high-pitched voice- making Lobo laugh.
"Wuss." Lobo chuckled as he punched Ray in the arm- almost breaking it in the process. "Fine. You guys help me get out, and after I will get you guys to Planck's place. Kay?" He said, snorting a bit as he turned toward the nearest exit, glaring at it with his blood red eyes. "You two get that door. I'll get the one on the other side of the cafeteria. Hurry- 3 minutes till its time to get back to the cells." He muttered, not wanting to be heard by unwelcome ears.
Ray nodded, and led Arthur to the prison door. "Can you pick a lock?" He asked Arthur nervously- only to be disappointed. Sighing, he knew he'd have to shrink. Turning back, he saw Lobo give a nod to assure him. It was now or never.
Turning back, Ray took a deep breath before shrinking to about half of the size of a dust particle- holding onto the keyhole as he did so. Climbing inside, he pushed the edges of the key while trying to ignore the sounds of the guards outside, growing slightly till he bumped his head. Finally, he felt the lock snap- a sound that resonated through his entire body. Moving the now broken lock so it would open, he exited from the other side and grew, opening the door for Arthur.
The two ran down the hall- Lobo going the other way, to distract the guards- and finally reached a broom closet, where Arthur insisted they stopped.
"What do you mean you need something?" Ray snapped, as he searched for guards nervously. "We need to go!" However, Arthur already had gone into the supply closet. Cursing, Ray shrunk down to not be seen by any guards, and waited.
Meanwhile, Arthur was grabbing several items. Polisher for the tile floors, check, sticks- he snapped the mops in half- check, duct tape, check. In less than two minutes he walked out with all his equipment strapped to an arm, a polisher battery hooked up to the mopsticks with wires and a few rusted metal pieces, all duct taped to his scrawny arm.
As Ray grew back to normal size, they started running again, only to run into a couple of guards. Swiftly, Arthur raised his modified arm and pressed a button near the battery, firing the sticks and knocking both of the guards out. Impressed- but without time to say it- Ray started running again, till finally they found the exit.
Bursting through the exit, they both laughed at the huge chase they'd just been through, looking for Lobo through all the quiet winter morning. Luckily, he came through shortly after they did- dragging along the corpse of a guard. Spitting on the ground, he dropped the guard and sniffed. "C'mon." He said, heading toward the general location of the lab. They followed till they were safe from the prison.
Ray stopped suddenly. "Wait, I know we're needing to go, but... We just got out of jail. We at least need to prepare." He said, confident now.
Lobo swirled around. "I haven't eaten since I crash-landed back on Earth. The only way we're going to get food back to the million people in Ivy City is by going."
Ray nodded. "I still need my suit. I'd also be much obliged if you could teach me how to fight- and, Arthur, if you can build me anything useful-"
Arthur interrupted him. "Won't be necessary. I'm coming." He smirked, folding his arms smugly. Honestly, Ray wanted Arthur to come along. He was nice, and smart. Lobo, however- well, he was pretty much exactly like Dwarfstar was.
Lobo snorted. "Okay, queers, lets hurry up and 'prepare'." He muttered, mock bowing them. Huffing, Ray led the way.
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At the apartment, Lobo and Ray were training- sweating, clashing, and more, while Arthur was busy building.
"No, idiot, when I go for the frontal blow, raise your arm." Lobo said, as Ray obeyed, blocking the punch. Grinning and proud of himself, he didn't suspect the next attack, which sent him flying back into his small square of a TV. Scrambling to get back up, Ray lifted his fists up again, sweat pouring out of him. As Lobo charged again, he blocked the attack and sent a right hook toward his ribs. Of course, this did nothing to Lobo- but to any normal person it would be devastating.
"Don't get cocky." He growled, turning away. "We're ready. What about you, Light?" He said gruffly to the good Doctor.
"Almost finished... These solar powered beams should at least blind him for a couple seconds." Doctor Light said as he screwed in a metal casing onto a strange handheld device.
"Great. Let's go." Ray said positively, putting up the cowl to his flamboyant suit, opening the door to his small apartment. It might be the last time he ever saw it again. May never see Jean again, or never see the next season of his favorite TV show. Certainly the last time he'd ever see his uncle again. The thought depressed him, but he didn't let it show.
As his group of misfits left the house, the first fall of winter suddenly came to a close. Ray smiled slightly as the went to the abandoned lab. He had a strong team of three against one. What could possibly go wrong?
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