//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: Lessons 
// Story: Young Amazons 
// by Wanderer D 
//------------------------------//


Young Amazons
By Ackbarfan5556
Executive Produced By Wanderer D
Chapter 13: Lessons

 
It was another seemingly average patrol for Sunset. Things had slowly started to turn into a sort of monotonous trend for her: She’d go out late for a patrol, find some robber or thief, and beat them up before either returning what they stole or leaving them for the police. Tonight was no different for her.
 
She was currently running across the rooftops of Gotham as she was chasing after two men that had just robbed a check cashing business. Sunset’s gymnastics training was paying off in spades as she was able to keep up with them while pursuing on the roofs, as opposed to the alleys.

The crooks did catch sight of her, which was the reason why they were running, though she now had the advantage over them as they truly couldn’t tell where she was or if she was even still chasing them. It was going to be a big mistake on their part.
 
After a few more turns through the alleys, Sunset made her move and slid down several fire escapes before she ended up blocking the path of the two men.
 
“So, how do you guys want to do this? Sit here and kindly wait for the police, or fight it out?” Sunset asked. As she expected, the criminals thought that fighting her would be the better option.
 
Sunset stood in place as the man carrying the stolen cash ran forward to try and tackle her. She waited for the right moment until she threw a fist upward and connected with the man’s jaw, sending him backwards and onto his back.
 
The young heroine then waited for the other man to make his move. The man followed his partner’s lead and tried to charge her as well. When he got close, Sunset roundhouse kicked the man in the face and knocked him onto the ground right next to his friend.
 
Sunset smirked as she dusted off her hands at her success. However, confusion struck her as the two men were looking up; not at her, but something behind her.
 
Everything suddenly went black within half a second for her.
 
When she slowly started to recover consciousness, she could feel the back of her head throbbing with pain before opening her eyes.
 
She was no longer standing in an alleyway, but rather leaning against the small brick edge of a Gotham roof. Also, she wasn’t seeing the two men in front of her, but Batman.
 
“Finally awake?” he said, his back turned to her.
 
Sunset groaned as she rubbed her head to try and alleviate some of the pain she was still feeling. “Yeah, I think so. Ugh, did someone get the license plate of that truck that ran me over?”
 
“That wasn’t a truck. It was a man,” Batman told her. “How many men did you count robbing the store?”
 
Sunset hesitated to answer but eventually did. “I…I counted two leaving the building.”
 
“It was three,” he said. “The third man was keeping watch for them, and those two you were chasing had led you back to him to ambush you.”
 
“Oh, that explains why those guys were looking behind me before it all went black.”
 
Batman turned around and kneeled down in front of her. “How many fingers am I holding up, Sunset?”
 
“You’re holding up four,” she answered.
 
“Okay, well, it looks like you haven’t suffered a concussion, but I think you should probably take it easy for a few days just to be safe.”
 
Sunset nodded slowly before getting up, making sure to keep herself balanced on the roof’s edge.
 
“If I wasn’t nearby when everything had happened,” Batman paused for a moment. “You might not have woken up.”
 
“Well, those guys certainly got lucky. They won’t catch me off guard like that again.”
 
“It wasn’t luck that they got the drop on you,” Sunset couldn’t see his eyes, but she knew that he was glaring at her from behind the cowl. “It was you being overconfident.”
 
Sunset turned red in the face with shame and she looked away. “You need to learn that the longer you do this, the harder things will get. The reason for that is you’re slowly starting to be taken as an actual threat to criminals in this city.”
 
“I doubt they’re as intimidated of me as they are of you,” Sunset quickly interjected.
 
“No, but that’s not the point,” Batman then sighed, “Listen, Sunset, I’m not trying to be a bully here, I actually appreciate some of the help you’ve been giving, but I need to be realistic with you. You’re starting to be known in this city and with each passing day, and with every criminal that you stop, word will get around. Tonight is a great example of this slow change; they’re slowly starting to not underestimate you.”
 
Sunset nodded. The words hurt, but she knew they were necessary.
 
“You’re right. I let myself fall victim to that same issue I had that first night you saved me,” she said. “I guess these past weeks have made me sluggish with simple thugs.”
 
“Well, you are only human; you’re going to make some mistakes from time to time, even when being a hero,” Batman said.
 
“Yeah, but I can’t make mistakes and then just rely on someone like you to swoop in and save me. I need to be able to get myself out of tough situations by myself because I might not have anyone around to rescue me.”
 
“I would tell you maybe you should probably put the mask away and just live a normal life,” Batman said, watching as Sunset shook her head. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Then, if that’s the case, maybe you should let Zatanna give you some more training, at least enough to help you in the future.”
 
“I think you might be right,” Sunset got back up on her feet and started to walk away. “I’m gonna head back home. Thanks for the save. I’ll be sure to take all you said to mind.” She glanced back and saw Batman already gliding away to another rooftop as he continued his work.
 
Sunset sighed before she started heading back towards the apartment.
 



 
The first thing Sunset did after she got back home and rested was to make sure to inform Zatanna of her need of some perhaps stronger training.
 
The basic stuff she was learning had truly helped, but as Batman clearly told her, it was slowly starting to not be enough. Sunset needed to keep ahead of the curve if she was going to keep up crime fighting.
 
Sunset knew that if she wanted to learn more advanced forms of magic, Zatanna would teach her. There was plenty of knowledge in the Tower of Fate to help as well, but only if Dr. Fate allowed her. He still hadn’t even said a word to her during any of her visits.
 
The issue that Sunset was focused on was the combat training. Gymnastics was certainly keeping her limber, and she was already proving to be one of the best on the team. The training she was getting from Zatanna and Dinah was a strong start, but she need to learn some more advanced moves.
 
There was only one person that Zatanna could think of that would be of great help to Sunset: Richard Dragon. Dragon was one of the foremost experts in martial arts that Zatanna knew, and would certainly have the time to train her in some advanced forms of fighting.
 
Zatanna was sitting in a chair, watching Sunset stretch in the Metropolis Dojo, where Dragon was currently residing. Both Sunset and Richard were dressed in karate robes as he waited for her to get ready.
 
“Well, whenever you’re ready, Sunset,” Dragon said, “First, show me at least what you know. Try and hit me if you can.” He positioned himself in a fighting stance and waited for Sunset’s move.

Sunset nodded after she finished stretching and stood up. Zatanna gave Sunset a small thumbs up as her young protégé looked over to her. Sunset smiled before getting into a fighting stance herself and stared Richard down.
 
Sunset slowly took a step forward before she charged ahead towards the martial arts master. She got up in his face and threw several punches that Dragon easily dodged.
 
Sunset tried to change the target of her punches from Dragon’s face to his torso. Just like the punches before, Richard dodged them as well. Sunset tried once more, but this time Richard blocked them with his arms rather than just simply avoiding them.
 
Zatanna watched as Sunset quickly backed off to regroup and rethink her strategy. Dragon looked like he wasn’t even trying.
 
“Come on! Show me everything that you’ve got. I’m sure you can do better than this.” Dragon told her, which fired up Sunset. She ran towards him and attempted to first hit Richard in the head before she sent the next punch for his stomach.
 
The martial arts master performed as Zatanna expected and blocked the attacks her student delivered before Sunset tried to kick him in the chest. Dragon grabbed Sunset’s leg before he spun around and tossed her several feet away to the floor.
 
Sunset panted for air as the sudden force of the landing knocked it out of her.
 
“You okay, Sunset?” Zatanna asked. Sunset responded with a small thumbs up of her own as she sat up.
 
“How did I beat you?” Richard asked as he looked one of his hands.
 
“Quite soundly, thanks,” Sunset huffed as took a few more breaths. “You’re the expert after all. I never stood a chance to begin with.”
 
“You never stood a chance because you’re fighting like a child,” Sunset looked at him with a confused look. “Your moves show that you do have training, but not much of it.”
 
Sunset got back up on her feet. “Man, what is it with everyone lecturing me about doing things wrong lately?”
 
Zatanna smirked at Sunset’s complaint.
 
“Sometimes you need to be broken down in order to be built back up,” Richard said. “You do possess huge potential. From what Zatanna has said, and what I can see in your eyes, there’s a well of considerable power lying inside you.”
 
Sunset gave a small chuckle. “Well, thanks. Though, I thought the saying was that ‘the eyes are windows to the soul’, not windows to see the power someone possesses.”
 
Dragon crossed his arms and smirked. “Well, I’ve certainly been around the world, and that saying surprisingly rings true. But there is an important lesson that you should know that goes hand in hand with power and being a hero.”
 
“What is that?”
 
“Sunset, you must remember that all the power in the world is worthless without the knowledge and more importantly, the discipline to use it effectively. Take your magic, for instance; a bit of extra strength in a blow, the merest force field to help block a strike, a flick of telekinesis to reset a safety on a firearm. Little things like that will help you in your endeavors.”
 
“I understand.” Sunset nodded.
 
“One can easily master many arts of fighting, but being a true master requires being a master of the mind.”
 
Dragon walked over to the table that Zatanna was sitting near and picked a white bandana off of it.
 
“Being a master of the mind,” Richard continued, “also requires one to be a master of their senses. If you truly want to be a heroine, then having your senses heightened is a must.” He walked over to Sunset before he tied the bandana around her head and covered her eyes.
 
“Um, is there any specific reason why I’ve suddenly been blinded? How exactly is this going to help me?” Sunset wondered as she tried to keep herself steady.
 
“Say, for instant, you’re in a dark warehouse on a cloudy night and the power is cut, leaving you blind to your surroundings. This will help you with hearing more subtle noises, Sunset. Like maybe hearing the quiet footsteps of someone who is trying to sneak up behind you and knock you out,” Zatanna said, recalling what the young girl had told her before.
 
Sunset was not that amused as she frowned in Zatanna’s direction. “Should’ve known that was going to be brought back up.”
 
Zatanna quietly chuckled. “It’s all about helping you, Sunset. That’s the main reason for practicing; it’s all about trial and error. It allows you to make mistakes that you can correct and make sure they’re not repeated out in the real world.”
 
The magician saw her student giving her a look, even when half her face was covered with the bandana. “That’s almost word for word the same thing that Princess Celestia once told me.”
 
“If we’re ready to continue,” the martial arts master interrupted. “Now then, Sunset, I want you to walk around like you’re not currently blindfolded. I will attempt to sneak up behind you, and I want you to try to block my strikes. Are you ready?”
 
Sunset bowed to the master, while Zatanna observed that Dragon was already slowly moving to ambush her protégé. “Yes, I’m ready.”
 
Zatanna leaned back in her chair as she watched Sunset slowly walked forward with her arms out in a defensive stance, just waiting for Richard to make his move.
 
Sunset was trying hard to catch even the faintest of sounds that Dragon was making, but he was an expert of stealth, as even Zatanna could barely hear his steps. It surprised her because she had much more training to heighten her senses than her assistant had.
 
Richard stepped closer and closer to Sunset before he made his move and slapped his open palm gently on Sunset’s neck.
 
“And you’re out,” he said as Sunset turned around in his direction. She was going to argue with him about not being ready, but held her tongue. She knew she failed, and would just simply try again.
 
Sunset walked ahead once more as Dragon began to slowly circle around her to strike her again. Sunset took a few more steps before Richard slapped her neck. She let out a small groan of frustration.
 
“Come on, Sunset. I know you can do it.” Zatanna thought as she watched her apprentice take a deep breath and get ready for the next attempt.
 
Sunset kept her guard up as she waited, listening for any sign of Dragon making his move. Zatanna watched as the man started his next assault, and was just several feet away from Sunset before the young girl swung around and blocked his incoming strike.
 
Zatanna got up out of her seat and clapped at her student’s success. She saw a wide smile spread on Sunset’s face.
 
“Well done, Sunset.” Richard gave his approval with a nod.
 
Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, I was just getting tired of you hitting me in the neck.”
 
“Just be lucky that’s all we were doing. If this was a real fight, I would’ve immediately chopped you in the throat.”
 
Sunset removed the bandana off her head. She had a worried look on her face as she moved one of her hands to her neck.
 
“Thanks for the heads up about that.”
 



 
“Very good, Barbara, as expected,” Ms. Vann praised Barbara as she tried to catch her breath from the tough routine she had to do for gymnastics.
 
Barbara smiled as Sunset walked up next to her. She was the next in line for the routine.
 
“Good job,” Sunset whispered, “I hope I can be a good follow up.”
 
“You’ll do fine.” Barbara assured her as she sat down next to the other girls and watched as Sunset got ready to perform.
 
Things had been calming down in Gotham over the last few days since the Joker terrorized the city with his pirated television station that he called JTV, which he used to broadcast insane shows involving his crimes.
 
Said crimes included kidnapping Mayor Grange and a GCPD detective named Cash Tankinson before dragging them along to any other crazy robberies he performed.
 
He also attempted to get his sick hands on that new superheroine, Alicorn, that had recently been appearing in Gotham. However, she was nowhere to be found so Joker just settled with broadcasting him fighting The Batman. Thankfully, the Dark Knight stopped Joker’s show and the crazed criminal was sent back to Arkham.
 
However, Barbara was more concerned about issues closely related to her, and they all stemmed from one person: Pamela.
 
She was concerned about her friend ever since the glasses-wearing girl had dragged her along to commit some vandalism after the Green Club had been shut down. Barbara had kept her mouth silent about it from Sunset because she thought maybe Pamela just wanted to get some aggression out of her system.
 
She was wrong. Pamela was making good on her promise of keeping up her acts of vandalism. She already informed Barbara that they were going out on Saturday for another graffiti wave.
 
Barbara knew it was time for an intervention, and the only person that could probably help her with this was Sunset. Perhaps Pamela’s two best friends could talk her out of her plans before they ended up getting arrested, or hurt, by them.
 
“That’s terrific, Sunset,” Ms. Vann’s voice brought Barbara back to reality. “That routine would earn you plenty of nines and tens.”
 
Barbara watched as Sunset smiled before she stepped down off the balance beam and walked over to sit next to her.
 
“Told you would do fine,” Barbara smiled to Sunset, though she felt slightly guilty considering that she zoned out throughout much of her friend’s performance.
 
“Well, I was told this team would be demanding,” Sunset said. “I felt like I had to contribute just as well. That Double Arabian flip you did just made the rest of our moves look amateurist in comparison.”
 
“Okay, girls,” Ms. Vann spoke up. “That was good work today. Now, I’d like to remind you girls that we have our first tournament coming up next week, so I want you all to prepare and get in the right mindset. But remember, it’s not the end of the world if we lose. Just have fun. Alright, that’s it for today. Get cleaned up, and I’ll see you all next Tuesday.”
 
Everyone got up and started heading for the locker room to wash up and change, but Barbara stopped Sunset before they got moving.
 
“Hey, Sunny, can I talk to you?” she asked.
 
“Sure, what is it?”
 
“No, not here, somewhere more… private. Like maybe your apartment? It’s nearby right?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Sunny, please, it’s important.”
 
“Okay, if you say so.” Sunset nodded before the girls headed for the lockers.
 
It was about forty-five minutes later that the two girls had cleaned up and were now right outside Sunset’s apartment as she unlocked the front door.
 
“Here we are. Feel free to leave your shoes at the door.” Sunset said as she took her shoes off and walked to the kitchen. “Hey, you want a drink or something microwavable?”
 
“I’m fine on the food, but I’ll have a Coke,” said Barbara as she sat down on the couch. Sunset opened up her refrigerator and then walked back with two Cokes before handing one to her friend.
 
“There you go,” Sunset sat down on the chair next to the couch. “So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?”
 
Barbara took a deep breath. She felt bad about betraying the trust that Pamela had in her, but she was only trying to help her friend.
 
“It’s about Pam… I…” Barbara hesitated for a moment before she started to speak again. “Sunny, what I’m going to tell you, you must promise that you will never tell a soul.”
 
Sunset nodded her head. “I promise not to say a word, Barb. Now, tell me. What’s going on with Pam?”
 
Barbara fidgeted nervously, wrestling with herself whether or not to get the words out. Finally, she worked up the courage to speak. “Well, it all started back on that day the Green Club got shut down. Pam was completely devastated about what had happened when I had showed up. You were at your fencing club at that time.”
 
Sunset nodded.
 
“Anyways, I couldn’t imagine what was going through Pam’s mind about her hard work being thrown away like that, but I assured her that we would still be there for her and that we didn’t need the club to continue helping her with her passion. As it turns out, helping her went in a very radical direction as we ended up vandalizing some posters near one of the Gotham rail stations.”
 
Barbara paused as she waited for Sunset’s reaction.
 
“So…” Sunset sounded a tad confused, “you two just messed up some posters? The way you were sounding, it was like you were confessing to a murder or something.”
 
“Okay, maybe I’m being a bit strong here, but this is serious, Sunny,” said Barbara glared at her. “She said after we finished, it was just the beginning. At first, I thought maybe she just needed to get that aggression out due to the club’s closure, but she’s planning something new on Saturday.”
 
“Why wasn’t I told of this sooner?” Sunset asked as she took a sip of her drink.
 
“Because Pam said she would figure out how to get you involved sooner or later. Look, Sunset, we need to do something for her soon before she ends up getting arrested…or worse.”
 
Sunset nodded. “Okay, well, what do you think we should do?”
 
“The smart thing would be to cut ties with her and let her deal with all this on her own, but we both know that we wouldn’t do that to her. Not after all the trouble she’s dealt with at school over the years. She really needs her two best friends more than she realizes.”
 
Sunset stood up. “Couldn’t have said it better myself. I know what it’s like to feel alone; having the comfort of knowing that you have friends behind you can mean the entire world.”
 
“Exactly!” Barbara quickly jumped up on her feet. “As her friends, it should be our responsibility to help her get off this dark path she’s treading before it goes any further.”
 
“An intervention certainly sounds like the plan we’re going with then,” Sunset paused. “But…if I appear with you when you’re supposed to meet up with Pam, she’ll know that you told me what was going on.”
 
“And run the risk of either our intervention not having any affect, or worse, tearing our friendship apart.” Barbara concluded. “I know. That’s what I was thinking too.”
 
Barbara saw a look of realization cross Sunset’s face.
 
“I’ve got it!” she exclaimed. “What if I ‘accidentally’ caught you two in the act?”
 
Barbara smiled widely. “That’s brilliant, Sunny! That might actually be the perfect solution to this problem! Do you think you could act like you don’t know anything?”
 
Sunset rolled her eyes. “You’re talking to the assistant of the great Zatanna Zatara. Yeah, I can act.”
 
The red haired girl chuckled. “Right, that was a dumb question.” Barbara took another deep breath before she sat back down. “Still, as hopeful as I am, do you honestly think that we can make this work?”
 
“Barb, trust me. This is going to work out just fine.”
 



 
“Thanks so much for agreeing to do this with me, Barb,” said Pamela. “We’ll show these plant killers what happens when you mess with Mother Nature.”
 
Barbara chuckled nervously. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Pam.”
 
The two teenagers stood outside of the subway station and were planning on vandalizing Wayne Enterprises tonight. As Pamela put it, Wayne Enterprises was representative of what she called ‘inconsiderate companies that was destroying the planet.’ It was clear sign to Barbara that Pamela was planning to take things way too far, but in order for her plan to work, she went along with it.
 
“You know, Pam,” she said as they walked down the street. “This is really risky, I mean, we might get caught by the police, or worse, The Batman or that Alicorn girl.”
 
Pamela glared at her before giving her a reassuring smile. “Just trust me, okay Red? What we’re going to do, it’s the only way those suits are going to listen to us.”
 
Barbara rolled her eyes, but didn’t say a word as the two continued on. They mixed in with the crowds that would fill up at various points until they finally stood outside the front gates of Wayne Enterprises.
 
“You ready?” Pamela asked. She took out two cans of spray paint and extended one out to her friend.
 
Barbara exhaled sharply before resuming her façade and took the canister. She was hoping that Sunset nearby to ‘catch’ them before they could start. “Yeah.”
 
The two girls quietly made their way around to an alley near the large building so they could sneak their way onto the property.
 
“You girls planning to do some renovating?” a female voice said, followed by the sound of footsteps landing on the ground. The two girls turned.
 
Barbara gasped at the sight of the girl that stood behind them. “Alicorn.”
 
“Who are you?” Pamela glared at the newcomer. “If you think you can stop me from doing what Mother Nature commands we do, then you are sorely mistaken.”
 
Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose. “Now I suddenly wish that my dad had caught us.”