The Next Generation

The exchange of blows was fairly even, of course this was considering that Power Girl was going easy on him. Had this been a real fight she would've destroyed him without even going ten seconds into the fight. After some time they finally broke away, Neal breathing a bit deeply as he took several steps back. "And here I thought that I'd finally gotten pretty strong" Neal said with a laugh. "There's no way that I'll ever get to your level" he admitted as he wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead.

"Well I wouldn't feel too bad about it," Power Girl said, placing her hands on her hips. "After all, I am a superpowered alien from another planet. That kind of gives me an advantage." She laughed a little, then walked over and put her arm around Neal's shoulders, walking out of the training room with him. "You did very well, though. I haven't seen very many of you humans without special powers able to fight like that. Quite astounding, actually, especially considering you only started in this business a year ago. Now come on, let's hit the gym. I feel like I need to sweat a little."

"True true, I guess I'm just trying to set a high standard for myself" Neal admitted as he took some time to catch his breath since their spar seemed to be at an end. He heard her compliment and gave a thankful nod. "It's because of my power. Along with illusions I have a heightened mind, meaning that I'm able to learn and memorize things fairly quickly" Neal admitted before he began to move over to the gym. "Can you even really work up a sweat? I imagine that it must take quite a bit to tire you out"

"It takes quite a bit, but yeah, I've been known to sweat," Power Girl responded with a chuckle. "On a treadmill, I think it takes me three hours and about ten thousand miles to get to that point. Weight lifting can do it quicker, depending on how much I'm lifting. Fifty reps of about seventy five tons, give or take a few. Of course, I could lift more, too, and start sweating in fewer reps, but I prefer a lot more reps of lower weight. Helps keep my muscles slim. I don't need to be looking like Superman."

When they arrived in the gym, Power Girl started looking around at the various weight machines. It was unlikely she would find anything to match her incredible strength, but... it was worth a shot, right? "Well this is lame, the most these machines go up to is eight hundred pounds. I could lift that with my little toe."

"If you're looking for some serious weight," a voice said, turning out to be Cyborg, who was working out on the bike machine nearby, "I can show you something that'll help. Just follow me."

He waved at them to follow, and brought them down to the bottom level of the tower, in a room lined with black, shiny walls. In the center was a weight bench, with a bar resting across the back that had two large, round weights on either end. "This is a special device I rigged myself. See, these walls and the floor around me generate a powerful electric current that's fed into these two receivers right here." He pointed to two large metal plates on either side of the bench. "And don't worry about getting shocked or anything, the current goes beneath the floor, not on top of it."

"So what does that do?" Power Girl asked.

"The device is designed to create a powerful electromagnetic field that pulls the barbell's weights down, simulating increasingly high levels of weight. Depending on the setting, it can go anywhere from one to two hundred tons."

Power Girl lifted an eyebrow. "Impressive... I could definitely get used to this. So what's your max weight."

Cyborg shrugged. "Well, my cybernetic parts increase my strength quite a bit. I top out at around three tons. Of course, that's nothing compared to you aliens... Starfire's gone up to a hundred and fifty tons. She could only maintain it for a couple of reps, though."

"I see..." Power Girl said, holding her hand to her chin in thought. Eventually, she lay down on the bench and reached up to grab the bar. "Set it to max. I want to see how many reps of two hundred I can do."

Neal accompanied Power Girl, but watched her curiously as she tried to find some sort of machine that would help her to at least get a decent workout. It didn't seem like that was going to happen though, as everything that she saw she could apparently lift with just a few lifts of her toe. Dang, it was a wonder that Power Girl even bothered when she had to run over ten thousand miles to build up a sweat. Neal couldn't even imagine what that would ever be like.

Cyborg eventually showed up and offered her a machine that would help her, apparently going to up two hundred tons. Insane, Neal couldn't even get like remotely close to that, at all. "You're really just gonna jump right in at two hundred?" he asked curiously. "Not even gonna get a warm up?"

"Nah, I got this," Power Girl assured, taking a firm grip on the bar. She lifted it up and held it above her. Right now, it weighed no more than a feather to her. "Let it rip, Cyborg!"

"If you say so," Cyborg replied, heading over to the controls. He flipped a few switches, and suddenly a loud hum began to fill the room, while the two metal plates on the floor started to vibrate. "Pushing it to maximum capacity.... now!"

Almost instantly, Power Girl's arms buckled, her elbows dropping down below the sides of the bench. "Hot... damn..." she puffed out, thrusting her arms upward. She managed to straighten them again without too much difficulty, though she was definitely starting to feel it. This machine was really something to be able to simulate this much weight. Within a few moments, she managed to pull into a decent rhythm, dropping her arms down and pushing them back up repeatedly. She was going slowly, but surely.

After about ten minutes, Power Girl finally pushed her arms straight one last time and puffed out a heavy breath. "Alright, that's enough, turn the damn thing off." The loud humming suddenly cut off, and the bar immediately lost its intense weight, allowing her to throw it back up on the rack. "Phew... now that's what I call a work out." As it stood, she was currently drenched.

"Fifteen reps," Cyborg remarked, thoroughly impressed. "Of two hundred tons. Damn girl, you got game."

Neal just stared in amazement at the sheer force of strength that Power Girl had. He knew that Superman was supposed to be strong and all that....but he had no idea that Kryptonians could be THIS strong. It was like watching an ant pick up a human and throw them around like a beach ball. It just seemed impossible even when Neal was seeing it right in front of him. No wonder crime in Metropolis was down, against someone like Power Girl how could you expect anything else besides that?

"I am thoroughly impressed beyond words" Neal said simply as he stood against the wall with his arms crossed. He was thinking about lifting some weights, but after seeing that what good would it do? He'd just look like a complete wimp in comparison to these two! "I'm still having a hard time wrapping around what I just saw" Neal admitted with a tiny laugh.

"I'm actually a little surprised myself," Power Girl said, chuckling. "I don't think I've ever attempted to do multiple reps of that much weight before. I wonder how much I could lift up in just one go... Best not to experiment, though. I don't feel like dropping an aircraft carrier on my head. Phew... I'm going to need to take another shower after that, though. I don't remember the last time I sweat this much. Must have been... three years ago or so. At least. Anyway, I'll be back once I'm cleaned up."

Once Power Girl was gone, Cyborg walked out of the room with Neal. He was heading over to the garage to work on some of the vehicles that needed some fine tuning. "So, you and Power Girl are getting pretty close, huh?" he commented, while reaching for his oil rag. "Damn fine woman, that's for sure."

Neal just kept his smile up as Power Girl mentioned that she was surprised about how much weight she was able to carry. She was of course now drenching in sweat, something that hadn't happened until about three years ago. That was.....oddly specific timing on her part to pick. Neal just raised an eyebrow before she allowed herself to be excused in order to take the shower.

"In truth I don't really know what to say about it" Neal admitted to Cyborg. "I didn't even really mean for it to happen. I mean I don't even know if I'm doing the right thing. It's not like you guys have done anything wrong, but it's still just strange to be here after what I did with the League" Neal admitted. "With Power Girl I guess I just know she's not looking down on me, so we talk and we got close I guess. She's the one that chose to classify what happened last night as a date" Neal added as they kept walking

Neal glanced over to Cyborg. "Do you think it's a bad idea? Me being with her? I mean, she is temporary and all ya know? But she is pretty awesome too......and apparently very comfortable around me for some reason"

Grabbing a socket wrench, Cyborg knelt down to start working on the T-car as he listened to Neal explain the situation between him and Power Girl. he could understand what the guy was going through, especially the part about there still being tension between him and the Titans. he could feel it, too. It wasn't a lot of tension, and it certainly wasn't out in the open, but it was definitely still there. Eventually, he got back up to his feet to switch out his tools, going for a screwdriver now.

"Well, if you want my advice," he started, wheeling himself underneath the car, "I'd say go for it. And not just for the, uh... obvious couple of reasons. I mean, if you really are comfortable around each other, and if she really is that great, then why not? I mean, she does seem to like you, anyway. Might as well go with it. She seems like an interesting person, too, not like your everyday blonde bimbo with a big chest. Hey, can you pass me that socket wrench again?"

Once Neal had given him the wrench, he continued. "Plus, I can tell you from experience that love and romance doesn't happen often in this business, and when it does, something happens to muck it up. I can't remember the last time I had a steady girlfriend. And it's been... gah, too long since I've been with a woman. You might as well go for it while you can. I mean, it has been over a year since you've been with us, and I don't really think you've been doing much in that department, aside from that brief stint with Raven. When's the last time you've even... ya know?"

Neal listened curiously as Cyborg decided to give him some advice on what he believed Neal should do. Neal didn't say it out loud, but he was definitely willing to listen and try to hear Cyborg out. Just because he heard his advice didn't mean that Neal had to follow it after all. "Yeah, I really am comfortable around her. We can just talk and nothing strange happens or anything......and yeah sure" Neal said before leaning down and turning to hand Cyborg the wrench in question.

"More recent than you think" Neal said with a small smile. He hadn't exactly told the Titans about how close he and Lady Shiva were, and that had only happened a few weeks back. But still, he could see cyborg's overall point about why he should just go for it. "You're right man, if I don't go for it I might just end up regretting it. Sure things might not work out but I gotta try" Neal said with a smile. "Alright, tonight I'll........ask to see if she'd maybe like to go on another date. She seemed to enjoy the last one after all"

"Yeah, and besides, even if it is just temporary, don't you want to be able to say that you hooked up with Power Girl?" Cyborg remarked with a laugh... then quickly rolled back out from under the car with a raised eyebrow. "Wait, what do you mean more recently than I think?"

Before he could get an answer, Power Girl reappeared, dressed back in her civilian clothes. She probably had to wash her uniform, considering how much sweat it had absorbed. No way was she going to wear that thing in its current condition. "Alright boys, I'm back, clean and refreshed." She gave them a wink, the headed over to take Neal's hand. "Come on, let's find something fun to do."

Cyborg blinked, watching as she pulled Neal out of the garage, leaving him all alone. "Damn it... how does he do it?"

"Yeah I suppose that you definitely have me on that one, that is definite bragging rights for life right there" Neal said with a laugh. Cyborg seemed to be confused about what Neal was referring to though, but he didn't get the chance to explain before Power Girl showed up in civilian clothes. She must have put her uniform out to wash. Hopefully nothing bad would happen that would force her to need it. "I'll tell ya later" Neal mouthed to Cyborg as they left.

"Something fun to do huh? Got anything specific in mind?" Neal asked curiously. He wasn't sure if Power Girl wanted to leave the tower or if she truly wanted to stay. Neal thought that if he heard what she was aiming for at least he might be able to think of something to.

At first, they had a little trouble of thinking just what exactly to do. After all, there were so many options in a place like New York. Eventually, though, they had decided to head down to he local arcade/fun zone, where they enjoyed all sorts of various games and activities, including one wildly competitive round of go karts. Though, that was nothing compared to their numerous rounds of laser tag. Power Girl didn't know what it was about shooting little red lights at other people and having your score tracked, but it was incredibly fun. To her surprise, though, Neal had beaten her every single time! She just couldn't seem to find him that well in the laser tag area, all dark with some glowing decorations as the only light source. It was like he just disappeared in there.

They did win enough tickets in the arcade area for a nice prize, too. They weren't sure what to get with those tickets, but eventually Power Girl thought it would be funny to get one of the giant stuffed bears for Atlee. That girl claimed she had outgrown stuffed animals, but Power Girl knew the truth about her secret stash that she brought out to sleep with. It was now after dark, a little past dinner time as they walked through the streets of New York... with Power Girl carrying the giant stuffed panda on her back.

"Well I have to say, today was really fun," she said, grinning at him. "I had a really great time, which is kind of odd, because I don't usually tend to have a great time with guys. But you're pretty cool, I have to say."

Neal didn't think that when Power Girl had wanted to do something fun that they'd end up at the local arcade. At first Neal wasn't sure what that would be like, but to his surprise it ended up being a huge blast! Power Girl just seemed like she could have fun doing anything! Maybe she really was just in a desperate need for a vacation. Either way, Neal wasn't going to complain as they continued to go about through the night playing various games. They played Go Karts, laser tag; which Neal's stealth training greatly helped him in, and even got a giant stuffed panda with all the tickets that they won.

As they were walking down the streets of New York, Neal glanced over at Power Girl who was carrying the panda. He would offer to hold it for her.........but considering how much she could life there wasn't much point in offering now was there? "Well I'm glad that I'm able to meet the cool factor, and here I thought I wouldn't be able to make it. In all seriousness though, I had a lot of fun too. I haven't had this much fun in a LONG time" Neal said honestly.

"Likewise," Power Girl responded, winking at him. She then leaned in close and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before taking off in a small run. "Race you back to the tower!" She'd let Neal get close to her, but never quite catch up as they ran all the way back to Titans tower. She was just teasing him now, considering the glaring differences in their true speed. When they finally did make it back into the main lounge, she dropped off the giant panda near the couches and then stretched out her arms.

"Well, that was a day I won't soon forget," she said with a smile. "But right now, I think I need to relax a bit." Plopping herself down on the couch, she reached over for the remote, when suddenly she noticed something off to the side. It was the table full of merchandising products that Beast Boy had devised, including all the action figures. "Taking a closer look, she picked up one of the Fade action figures and looked it over. "What's all this?"

Neal just blinked in surprise when Power Girl leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. He hadn't been expecting it, but it was sure nice. And than of course, Power Girl started to take off back to the tower. "Oh come on now you know that's not fair!" Neal shouted with a laugh as he began to chase after her. He knew that she was way faster, but just doing something as fun and ridiculous as this seemed to just be really fun for the time being.

They eventually arrived back at the tower where Power Girl jumped onto the couch in order to relax. "I don't blame ya, I think I could take a load off myself" he said before jumping onto the seat next to Power Girl's. HE was looking towards the TV as he expected her to turn in on, when Power Girl noticed something else. The action figures, the merchandise. "Oh that, that was Beast Boy's idea. Some of the city thought that we were stealing too much from the taxes for our operation. So in order to compromise we decided that we were going to make some merchandise to sell. Beast Boy came up with QUITE a few ideas" Neal admitted.

"I see," Power Girl said, looking over all the different ideas that were on the table. "Baseball caps, T-shirts, action figures, cuddly plush dolls, Halloween costumes, party supplies... looks like there's plenty here to keep a steady income coming in for quite some time. And you say Beast Boy came up with all of this? Well, now I must admit I'm rather impressed by that." She chuckled at her own joke, then grabbed a stack of calenders and began flipping through them. "Huh, what are these supposed to be? They're all blank."

"Yeah. I have to admit that I was really surprised when he showed it all. Apparently he's been working on them for years in his free time. And a toy deal has already signed on for the actions figures, they should be ready to ship soon" Neal said before glancing over at the black calendars. "Oh those, that's for the swimsuit edition that Beast Boy was talking about. All the girls are going to model in swimsuits and get their pictures taken for the calendar" Neal said as he remembered Raven buying the swimsuits just the other day. "We're going to have to wait a little while to get that one done though, but it's going to really sell when it hits the market"

"Really now? A swimsuit calender?" Power Girl put the calenders back down on the table, though she was smiling a sly smile, as she brought up a finger to touch to her chin in thought. "You know, that actually sounds like it could be quite a bit of fun. I don't suppose you have room for another couple of women to join in, hm? I'm sure I can talk Atlee into it... or at least blackmail her with her stuffed animal secret. But I'm sure it won't come to that." She chuckled to herself and sat back down on the couch, folding her hands behind her head. She'd only been here a couple of days, and already she was having way more fun than she ever did in Metropolis. She could really get used to it here.

Neal raised an eyebrow as Power Girl seemed to very a very devious look upon her face, he could only guess what she was thinking until she revealed it just a second later. Neal heard her out and scratched his chin. "Well it is really Beast Boy's so I guess you'd have to talk to him about it. Knowing him though I'm sure that he'll be fine with it. After all, we have no idea when Starfire and Sarah are going to come back" Neal admitted as he looked towards Power Girl. "Assuming that you'd really like to help and all"

"Of course," Power Girl said, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Anything to help bring in a little extra cash. Can never have too much of that, am I right? A shame that it won't be for a while, though. Of course, I could always get prepared for it. I haven't exactly been on a photo shoot before or anything like that... Hmm, would you mind if I modeled a few swimsuits for you? I have several, I'm just not entirely sure which ones would work for a calender."

Neal gave a nod as Power Girl mentioned that it never hurt to have a bit of extra cash. "Yeah, it'll be a good public message too that we really don't want to be taking from the city. Hopefully a few more people will become in favor of us again" Neal added before turning to look at Power Girl as she offered something that he thought wasn't ever going to happen. "Um.......yeah that'd be fine with me. Should we head up to your room?" he asked curiously.

"Certainly," she responded, taking Neal by the hand and leading him off to her room, where all of her swimsuits, not to mention the rest of her clothes, were. Neal might be wondering just when exactly she had time to go and move all her stuff from Metropolis to the tower in New York, but considering she could fly that distance in about two minutes, she really had more than enough time to do so during the past couple of days. When they arrived, she went straight to the closet and started looking through a rather large variety of swimsuits.

"Alright, now let's see what we have here... I think I'll try on this one, and this one... oh and these couple, maybe that one... I think that's good for now." Unlike Raven, who had a balance between one pieces and two pieces, all of Power Girl's were bikinis, and much more revealing. Not quite as borderline nude as Starfire's swimsuit, but close. "Okay, now turn around and close your eyes so I can try on the first one."

Neal had to admit that he felt his heart beating a little fast as Power Girl just took him by the hand and lead her to the room. He was surprised at first to think that she had already brought all of those clothes from back home, but she could move way faster than a speeding bullet....so it really wasn't that surprising. As they arrived Neal took a seat as Power Girl began to go through all of her swimsuits. From what Neal could see, it seemed like he was in for a bit more of a show this time around.

As Power Girl told Neal to turn around he acted like he'd been hit in the heart. "There's always a catch to these things" he said jokingly before turning around and fully closing his eyes.