Chapter 2: A Head of Her Time Part 1
Soon after the two dogs got onboard the ship, Charlie and Itchy were both given baths to be clean and flea-proof if they were going to live with the Legends. After Charlie and Itchy got settled in the Waverider, Sara and the others shared stories of their past adventures of saving time and the world even about the 21st Century. Both Charlie and Itchy were amazed to hear what they gone through. They even surprised hear about other superheroes in the 21st Century. Like the Green Arrow, the first hero and archer vigilante with his Wolf-Dog Balto,
The Flash, the fastest man alive with his speedster dog, Bolt,
Supergirl, the last daughter of Krypton with her cat, Streaky,
Black Lightning, the lightning superhero,
Batwoman, the bat vigilante with her dog, Ace,
and Superman, the last son of Krypton with the family's dog, Krypto.
It was truly amazing to hear what goes on in the 21st century and cool that there were special dogs and cats like them in the world. Charlie and Itchy were happy to be here. They both slept peacefully on a nice comfy bed. Charlie, Itchy, and Zari were waiting for Behrad to give them a tour. Behrad then arrives to them.
"All righty-tighty, then. You guys ready for the official Waverider tour?" Behrad asked.
"Yep." Charlie said.
"What would you like to see first?" Behrad asked.
"What do you people do around here for fun?" Zari asked.
"If you could just follow me this way, first stop, the galley. Gideon can whip up any kind of food you can imagine. Last week, Nate and I had cheddar biscuits and had Gideon fabricate some squeezable butter. That tasty treat has been off the shelves since 2024." Behrad said.
"Really? That sounds great." Charlie said with Itchy nodding in agreement.
"She can make anything, and you went with with a discontinued condiment. Wait, can she make clothes?" Zari said.
"Of course." Behrad answered.
"Okay, tell the computer I need a dress for my perfume launch tonight. We'll be back in time for that, right?" Zari said.
"Yes. And, yes, Gillian can't do anything. She flies the ship, makes our food, cleans the toilets, tracks the timeline." Behrad said.
"Tracks the time-" Zari started. "Do you mean tells the future?"
Behrad nodded in response. Charlie and Itchy were surprised to hear that. It was tempting to know about their future.
"Behrad, we can make billions of future fall trend reports." Zari said. Charlie liked the sound of that. Then sound of a clear throat interrupted them. It was Ava.
"[clears throat] No, no." Ava said. "Rule number one of time travel, never look into the future of a personal gain." Ava said.
"Totally, totally." Zari said in agreeing.
"-And rule number two, no social media on the ship." Ava finished. Zari then handed her phone to her brother.
"I thought we were dropping you off." Ava said.
"My Brother, the actual superhero... [imitates whoosh] invited me to stay." Zari said.
"Okay, let's just remember this is a place of business, okay? We get called on a mission, you need to keep our way." Ava said.
"Aye, aye." Zari said with a salute.
"Okay, we'll talk later." Ava said before she leaves the room. [scoffs]
"Sad, what a waste of a good head of hair." Zari said.
"Here you go. Hide it." Behrad said handing back her phone.
"Can your computer lady make me some cucumber water? I'm parched for that dry interaction." Zari said as continues to be on her phone. Charlie and Itchy begin making themselves some food to eat.
"I gotta say Itch, we hit paradise." Charlie said as he takes a bite.
"We sure did." Itchy said.
Suddenly they hear Ava on the speaker through the Waverider.
"Interim Captain Sharpe here, team meeting in the parlor, over and out. Okay, that was good. It was fine got to the point. Not too-" Ava stopped realizing everyone could hear her.
"Gideon, are you broadcasting this?" Ava asked the AI.
"Sorry, Miss Sharpe, I'll shut it down." Gideon said.
"Okay, thank you, we women have to stick together." Ava said. Nate and Behrad then enter the room.
"I always thought of you as one of the guys." Nate said.
"Okay, I don't know what that means." Ava said.
"He means that as a compliment." Behrad said.
""I do." Nate said.
"Okay." Ava said as she puts flower necklaces around their necks.
"That's for you." Ava said as she puts one on Nate.
"That's for you." Ava said as she puts one on Behrad.
"Okay, then." Behrad said.
She put one on Charlie and Itchy. She was about to put one on Zari, but she refused.
"What did I say about phones?" Ava asked.
"What? I need to tell my boyfriend I'm not dead." Zari said. Nate turned to her surprised.
"Uh, boyfriend?" Nate said.
"Yep, International renowned DJ S'more Money." Zari said. Ray then enters the room.
"Ah, okay, we've got Ray. Uh, where's Mick?" Ava said.
"He's sick. Lovesick. [chuckles] Ray answered.
"Ahh, love. I've been there." Charlie said.
"Oh." Ava said. She then gives Ray a necklace of flowers. She then brings everyone together.
"So while Sara's in Star City, I want to introduce you all to something that I developed at the Time Bureau." She said as she picks up some binders.
"I know what you're thinking, Time Bureau, #stuffy. What can we learn from those guys? But we really did have a lot of fun over there. Do you remember taco Mondays, Nate?" Ava said as she hands out the binders.
"Yeah, those were some wild taco times." Nate said.
"Yeah." Ava said.
"Aloha?" Ray said.
"Yes, A.L.O.H.A. Stands for assess, listen, observe, hydrate... attack!" Ava said as she snaps the binder at them.
"What the-" Nate said.
"Cool." Ray said.
"See?" Ava said.
"Uh, how many pages is this?" Nate asks.
"Do we have read this?" Charlie asks complaining.
"Ava, have you ever heard the proverb "the fox knows many things, the hedgehog knows one big thing?"
"I have not." Ava answered.
"Well, Legends, we're a fox kind of organization. Adaptable, off the cuff. This- - this is very hedgehog. Trying to impose one way of doing things onto every situation." Behrad explained.
"And not to be rude- - is there are a mission here?" Nate asked.
"No, I just-" Ava began.
"Okay, then, I'm gonna introduce Zari to the wonders of Gideon's Austrian toast." Behrad said as he and Zari leave.
"Actually, it's French toast." Nate corrected him.
"Ah...
"Pretty sure it's Austrian." Behrad said.
[chuckles goofily] Nate did.
"Gideon, Gideon, check the timeline." Ava said to Gideon.
"It would appear that there is a disturbance at the Bastille in Paris, 1793. While the details are still hazy, the aftermath is traumatic. Thousands die, in the French Revolution collapses." Gideon said informing them. Charlie and Itchy were excited to go on their first mission as Legends.
Well, looks like we have a mission, so everyone stop looking so "Le Misérables," because we are going to France." Ava said.
Versailles 1793
They arrived in Paris in 1793. They all got dressed up so they can blend in.
"Behrad, come on, we need to move." Ava said as she and Nate get ready to leave. Zari then came out of the fabrication room wearing a nice beautiful 17 century dress. She begins to cool herself with her fan. Even Charlie and Itchy put so clothes on.
"Hey, guys." Zari said happy.
" I couldn't stop her. She found the fabrication room." Behrad said.
"Great. She's not coming. Neither are you two." Ava said pointing to Charlie and Itchy.
"What?! Oh come on. Just have us as service dogs there." Charlie said.
"We don't do ride-alongs in the field, B." Ava said.
"Ava, I can handle myself in the field. I want to play capture the flag to raise awareness about the feline OCD, so..."
"Yeah, we can handle ourselves too." Itchy said.
"This isn't a PR event, right? We're walking into a deadly situation facing an encore with unknown powers. I do not have time to keep my eye on a party girl and two dogs." Ava said.
"I do." Nate said.
"What?" Ava said.
"I mean, come on, Ava, what's the harm?" Nate said.
"It's against protocol to bring civilians into the field." Ava said to Nate.
"Tsk."
"Don't "tsk."
"Tsk."
"Yeah, but it would be super cool if you just let me come anyway." Zari said.
"Same here for us. Right Itch?" Charlie said.
"Right." Itchy said.
"Uh, okay, fine." Ava said.
"Yay." Zari said.
"Awesome." Charlie said as he hi-fives Itchy.
"Just, uh, make sure you guys stay out of our way." Ava said.
"Yay." Zari said as she sprays Ava, Charlie, and Itchy with her perfume. Ava, Charlie, and Itchy gags and coughs after being sprayed.
"What the hell was that?" Ava asks.
"Why did you do that?" Charlie asks.
"What's that smell?" Itchy asked.
"My signature perfume, Dragonesque. I need to do something to help that extremely sad outfit, also, you two smell a bit. Spray, delay, walk away." Zari said as she walks away.
"Okay, we're going this way. Jesus." Ava said as she recovers from the perfume. They walk the other direction.
"I was just doing a runway turn." Zari said as she follows them.
__________________________________
They were in the Palace of Versailles. As they walked through, they pasted many people and executioners with guillotines.
"This period of France was called the Reign of Terror. Executions were a national pastime." Ava said as a guillotine blade went down on nothing. It startled the group.
"Whoa!"
"Ooh, yikes." Zari said.
"I think I like to keep my head." Itchy said.
"Yeah, we could definitely be walking into a bloodbath." Ray said. They saw a line of people with guards guarding the entrance to the main room.
"And you want us to go in there?" Zari asked.
"Yeah, that's our job." Ava said.
"[clears throat] Excuse me, sir. Uh, we need to get in there." Ava said to the guard.
"[scoffs] No." the guard said.
"It is a vital importance that we get in there, sir. Please? Oh." Ava said as she tried to get in but the guards blocked her way.
"Step back." the guard ordered.
Zari then steps in but Behrad pulls her back.
"This isn't a club, Zari, it's an execution." Behrad said.
"An event is an event." Zari said. She then walked up to the guard.
"Scoot. Out of the way." She said to Ava.
"Where do you think you're going?" The guard asks.
"Um, do you know who you're talking to? What's your name?" Zari said.
"Jean-Paul." The guard answered.
"Trés bien. Now they'll know who to fire when they find out you left Zari Tarazi standing outside in grand faux pas." Zari said. The guard lets her past but stops the others from entering.
"Not them." Jean-Paul said.
"Jean-Paul, my purse isn't gonna walk in by itself." Zari said she tosses her purse to Nate who walks after her along with the others.
They walk in to see no one was being executed but instead partying. Common and rich people together. Everyone was confused by seeing this.
"Um, did you say this was an execution?" Zari asked.
"Don't see anyone without a head." Itchy said.
"Maybe Gideon got it wrong." Ray suggested.
"Well, if they were misérables, they certainly aren't now." Ava said as they looked around the party. Zari then fans her. Ava stops her from doing it.
"Stop with the thing." Ava said.
__________________________________
Everyone was continuing to party while the Legends try to figure out what to do.
"This place doesn't seem too evil." Ray said.
"Yeah, well, appearances can be deceiving, okay? We need to figure out who this encore is and what powers they may have. We start with the A.L.O.H.A. method, okay? Assessment, lay low, don't engage." Ava instructed.
"We know how to party sneak." Behrad said to her.
"Listen to me - - you see something, you say something." Ava said to him. Zari then walks up to her.
"Captain." Zari said.
"Yeah." Ava said.
"You're trying to hard. [whispering] It's really desperate." Zari said as she walks away. Ava tries to resist from strangling her. As the party continues, Charlie decides stick Nate and Zari.
"So this is your job? Walking around parties?" Zari asks Nate.
"Isn't this kind of what you do?" Nate said.
"Hmm, touché." Zari said. Nate hands her a drink but she declines.
"No." She said.
"First fancy party I've seen." Charlie said.
"But something definitely feels off. At this point in the French revolution, most of the Royals have been separated from their heads. Even wearing a nice dress could get you sent to the guillotine." Nate explained. Zari looked surprised after hearing that.
"Uh, you let me come out in this because...?"
"I'm a sucker for a corset and an updo." Nate said. They turn to watch people party and Nate spotted Napoleon partying with them.
"Napoleon?" Nate said.
"He should be marching on southern France, not getting freaky. Wha - - okay. Guys, steer clear exercise extreme caution." Ava said.
"Relax, Ava." Ray said.
"I'm trying." Ava said.
Ray then spotted someone familiar in the VIP area. A woman in a red dress who looked like Nora.
"Nora?"
"Ava, I think we found our encore. She's in the VIP area." Nate said.
"Nora's our encore?" Ray said.
"No, Ray, that's Marie Antoinette. And she should definitely be without her head by now." Nate said.
"Oh, great, on to phase two of A.L.O.H.A. It's listening. Now, her powers could be anything- - teleportation, Pyrokinesis."
"Fatal attractiveness." Nate said. Ray and Nate then walk to her and party. Charlie decided to walk back to Ava and Itchy.
"Guys? Guys? They're not usually like this." Ava said.
"Well, you're not usually Captain." Zari said.
"Thank you." Ava said sarcastically. Behrad shows up in front of them with a drink.
"I just swapped crepe recipes I thought French cooking legend. This is the best party ever." Behrad said as he's about to drink, but Zari takes his drink.
"Excuse me, since when do you drink?" Zari asked.
Behrad then snaps back to reality.
"Whoa, where did I get that?" Behrad said as walks away.
"You know what, you're right. Something is definitely wrong." Zari said to Ava.
Then some soldiers pull in a guillotine into the party. People backed away from the them.
"It is time." Marie said in delight. Soldiers began to prepare the guillotine.
"Shh." Marie said.
"Of course, The perfect revenge, a magical guillotine. Guys, be careful, I think Marie's about to make her move." Ava said to the others.
The blade is raised to the top.
"Now!" Marie shouted. The blade is dropped down on... cake?
"Let's them eat cake!" Marie shouted.
Everyone started to cheer and rush to the cakes ripping pieces out and eating them like a pack of wolves. Ava, Zari, Charlie, and Itchy looked surprised and confused.
"Crazy." Zari said.
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