Frank's POV

"A big thing people forget when they're fighting is that they have use of their legs," Kobra kid says, pointing between Detonation's and my legs. "They're so focused on the upper halves of their bodies that they completely neglect the lower halves. It's important to keep that in mind- if you're using your whole body, and they're only using half, you're at the advantage."

Detonation and I nod, the hot sun bearing down on us while we train out behind the diner with Kobra Kid.

"Go ahead and spar keeping that in mind," he takes a sip of his water, sitting down in the lawn chair behind him.

Detonation tightens her ponytail and turns to me, curling her hands into fists. I match her stance, waiting for her to take the first swing. She nods at me to signal that she's ready, and then aims a right hook at my face, simultaneously moving her left leg out of the way of my leg that I had tried to sweep under her. I dodge her swing, stepping away from her. I move in again, this time throwing a punch at her, which she blocks by hitting her forearm against mine. She kicks her right leg at me, and I only narrowly avoid it. As her right foot lands back on the sand, I kick her left leg out from under her body, causing her to fall on her back with an "oof."

"That was a great use of your legs, you guys!" Kobra commends us, clapping as he stands up from his lawn chair. He walks over to Detonation and I, offering her a hand and helping to lift her to her feet. "Detonation, why do you think you fell?"

"Probably gravity," she shrugs, dusting the sand off of her jeans.

"Very funny," he rolls his eyes, smiling. "It was because of your hips. You have to have them squared or else the sturdiness of your form is thrown off. Make sure to keep your core hollow as well."

"Like this?" Detonation repositions her hips and adjusts her core, squaring off and hollowing out.

"Exactly like that! That form will help keep you on your feet even if your opponent is going for your legs. Obviously it's not entirely fool-proof, and you can still be knocked down, but it is a lot harder for somebody to knock you down with this from than with the way you were standing before."

"Okay, got it." Detonation removes her jacket, tossing it off to the side as Kobra returns to his lawn chair. She raises her fists again and nods at me. I aim an uppercut at her jaw, and she moves her face out of the way at the last second, ducking to the right. As she ducks down she sweeps her leg forward, attempting to pull my legs out from under me. I step out of the path of her legs, stumbling a bit as I regain my balance. She stands back up, throwing another right hook, which I block with my forearm. As our arms make contact, she turns her body toward me, pushing off of my arm to stand behind me, facing my back. I attempt to turn around, hoping to use my forearm as a bar to knock into her, but before I can turn, her foot is against the back of my knee, and she throws me to the sand. She places her foot on my back and forms her hand into a finger gun, aiming at the back of my head.

"Very good form, Detonation! Ghoul, what happened?"

"She's fast, that's what happened," I groan, placing my hands on the sand on either side of my head and pushing myself to my knees. Kobra Kid laughs as he stands from his chair, again walking to my sister and me. He offers me his hand, just as he had done with Alison, and pulls me to my feet.

"Yes, her speed on her feet is definitely an asset," he chuckles, "but you also failed to anticipate your opponent's next move. The moment after you blocked her right hook with your forearm, her weight shifted onto her right leg so she could spin behind you. If you had noticed that shift of her weight, you would have known what she was going to do, and you'd have given yourself more time to turn and face her again. Go ahead and try that again."

"Kobra," Jet Star's voice calls from the back door of the diner, where he hadn't been standing just a moment before. "Give them a break, it's hot and they're tired"

"They're going to be hot and tired in real combat too, Jet. You've gotta practice in the circumstances under which you're going to perform," Kobra retorts. Nonetheless, he folds up his lawn chair and heads into the diner, motioning for Detonation and I to follow.

She grabs her light pink jacket off of the sand and turns her body toward me, looking over her shoulder as she waits for Kobra Kid and Jet Star to re-enter the diner. Once the two boys are out of sight, she turns to face me straight on, suddenly wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.

"Are you okay?" I ask, concerned at her sudden need for closeness, as I wrap my arms around her.

She nods with her head against my chest. "Sometimes I just miss when things were normal. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, and I'm so grateful that we're with the Killjoys, but sometimes I miss the simplicity of our old lives. You were just my big brother, and we spent our days hanging out in the living room and watching movies, not training in hand-to-hand combat."

"Hey, I know things are different, and this a huge change to adjust to, but I'm still your big brother, and you're still my little sister. Nothing is going to change that. We're just doing the best we can with the circumstances we've been given."

She pulls away from me, looking up at me with a small smile resting on her lips. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

I observe her face, frowning as my eyes land on her hair. Her bangs have grown since we left Bat City, the brown locks almost completely covering her eyes. "Hey, how would you feel about a trim?"

She lifts her hand to her bangs, her fingers resting on the locks that have grown in front of her eyes. "That's probably a good idea," she laughs.

I walk through the back door of the diner with Alison following behind me, weaving through the kitchen and into the lobby. I point Ali to a barstool, telling her to wait there as I go to the bathroom and grab the first aid kit.

"Okay, they're not really hair scissors, but they're small like hair scissors, so that has to be good, right?" I ask, returning to the lobby and holding the tiny, silver scissors up for her to see.

"What are you doing with those," Party Poisons asks nervously, just entering the lobby from upstairs.

"I," I snip the scissors in his direction, "am doing what any good big brother would do: I'm cutting my sister's hair."

"Oh, of course, duh," Party Poison rolls his eyes and chuckles as he slides into a booth, angling his body to face Detonation and me. "You do realize people actually go to school to learn how to cut hair, right? They have, like, certifications."

"Well unless you know somebody who is certified and who also happens to be here right now, this is our best option." Party Poison shrugs in response, but keeps his gaze on me as he watches me bring the scissors to her bangs.

"Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing," I warn Detonation before making the first snip at her bangs, "but we live in the middle of the desert, so who gives a shit if it's not perfect." She laughs lightly, careful not to move her head. A few minutes pass of me snipping away at the long strands of hair, and I finally set the scissors down on the bartable. "Okay, it's not perfect, but I didn't do half bad. Go check it out."

She slides off of the barstool, rushing excitedly to the bathroom mirror.

"Hey, that actually looks pretty good," Party Posion nods, pursing his lips into a surprised expression. "I'm impressed"

"And to think you doubted me," I sigh, dramatically sitting across from him in the booth. "I'm truly, deeply hurt."

"Oh fuck off," he laughs, kicking my leg under the table.

Detonation runs back into the lobby and wraps her arms around my shoulders, leaning into the booth to reach me. "Thank you for the haircut, Ghoul. You did really good." She retracts her arms and stands next to the table, still grinning at me.

"It looks very nice," Party Poison smiles at her, raising his hand and giving her a thumbs up. "You can actually see your eyes now. They look like your brother's," he smiles as he turns his face to me, looking directly into my eyes, and I feel a blush start to color my cheeks.

Detonation looks between the two of us for a moment, then speaks. "I'm gonna go get some water. I'm worn out from combat training. Want any, Ghoul?"

I tear my eyes away from Party Posion's and nod, "yes, please. Thank you."

She nods her head and smiles, looking between the two of us once more before turning around and walking into the kitchen.

"How old are you guys, anyway," Party Posion asks, cocking his head to the side. "You mentioned you were her 'big brother,' but what's the age gap there?"

"Five years," I state, doing the math in my head. "I'm twenty-three, and she's seventeen. So if you were getting any ideas about her, keep in mind that she's still legally a child."

"Oh, absolutely not," Party Poison says, taken aback at my half-assed accusation. "She's a great kid and all, but I'm twenty-five, and she's not exactly my type. Not to step on your 'big brother' territory or anything, but I view her as more of a sisterly figure."

"I didn't mean to accuse you, I'm sorry," I chuckle awkwardly. "I just feel the need to say it, I guess." After a moment's hesitation, I decide to ask: "what is your type, anyway?"

"Well," he laughs. I notice him start to twiddle his fingers on the table. "I prefer people with a different anatomy to her."

"Oh," I nod, before I realize what he means. "Oh," I say again, feeling the blush color my cheeks again.

He looks at me expectantly.

"Oh, I'm not judging you," I rush out, noticing the familiar worry mixed with defensiveness in his eyes. It's the same look that I have when I come out to somebody and am awaiting their reaction. "I just didn't expect that, I guess. You don't seem- not to say there's a particular way to seem- it's just that I didn't-" I pause and take a breath, allowing myself to stop tripping over my words. "Me too, is what I mean."

He smiles at me, and I notice his shoulders relax with relief. He nods and opens his mouth, but is cut off by the sound of Detonation opening the kitchen divider and entering the lobby. She crosses the tiled floor and hands me a plastic cup of water, sliding into the spot next to me in the booth.

I grab the cup and lift it to my mouth, sipping slowly as I attempt to recover from the awkward encounter she had just missed. I silently thank the heavens for the fact that she wasn't present for that conversation, because I know she would have made fun of me for my struggle to speak.

The radio sitting on the bartable crackles loudly, causing me to jolt and briefly choke on my water.

"Hey there, motor babies, you're here with me, Doctor D, coming at you live with a weather report," Doctor Death Defying's voice crackles through the speakers of the old boom box. Party Poison's eyes widen and he snaps his head toward the device. "Nothing to report but good news out here in our sand sprinkled home. Conditions have been fabulous, measuring in at a nice and cool 88° today, making it four days straight that we've been out of the scorching 100's. Maybe that means it's wintertime out here in the zones, but who keeps track of the seasons when you've gotta keep track of your neons and charges."

Party Posion quickly stands from the booth, crossing the room to the boom box and turning it down.

"Kobra, Jet," he calls out loudly to the two boys who are upstairs. "We've got a mission!"