Roy was always practicing archery at this time of the afternoon, so Julius figured that, while he was giving Lyn a tour of the grounds, they'd make a quick detour to the archery range.
Roy leaned back and wiped sweat off his face. "Hey, big bro. Who's the kid?"
"I'm Lyn! I'm the new -"
"He's from Integreco. I'll explain later," Julius interrupted before Lyn could say anything foolish. "Roy, show us what you've been working on."
Roy stood, readied his bow, and grinned. "Check this out!"
There was only one arrow on the string - but when he loosed it, it split into three arrows.
Lyn clapped. "That's amazing!"
"Thank you, thank you." Roy looked at Lyn. "Can I see yours?"
For a moment Lyn actually looked embarrassed. But it flickered away and was replaced with his usual cheery demeanor before anyone could say anything about it. "I, uh... I don't have projectiles, exactly."
"Oh, so you have a unique manifestation?"
"I am the projectile," Lyn said proudly.
"How far and how fast?"
"Betcha I can grab one of your arrows out of the air," Lyn said.
Roy looked at Julius. "Should I let him?"
Julius half-smiled. "Make it very light, and the end of it a large ball, and we're good."
"Give us a countdown!" Lyn was hopping from foot to foot, already beginning to crackle with energy.
Julius, startled, said "What?"
"A countdown! Like three, two, one, go!"
"I know what a countdown is -" Julius began.
But Roy had already loosed the arrow on Lyn's "go". It fizzled out in midair when Roy realized that it wasn't the real countdown, and Roy's eyes flicked sideways in annoyance, but Lyn just grinned and kept charging.
Julius decided to just get it over with. "Three, two, one, go!"
Two golden streaks went flying, one of them much larger than the other, and in the air they converged -
But the moment Lyn grasped the arrow he went tumbling, no longer lightning but a boy. He rolled and bounced across the grass, coming to a splayed-out stop.
Julius ran towards him. "Lyn! Lyn, are you all right -"
Lyn stuck his arm out and waved Roy's arrow around like a flag.
This kid has to be made out of rubber, Julius thought.
Lyn sat up, brushing grass out of his hair. "I know you can shoot faster," he shouted at Roy. "You were totally holding back to let me win."
"I was not!"
"So you're saying I'm better than you?"
Roy was making a hand motion that Julius absolutely had not taught him. "Get back here and say that to my face!"
"Don't just -" Julius was interrupted by a yellow streak zooming past in the other direction.
The prospect of the two young Justice mages (neither of whom had weapons or manifestations suitable for the task) getting in a fistfight was terrifying enough to Julius that he'd started sprinting over to try to separate them, but when he arrived, all Lyn was doing was giving a protesting Roy a noogie.
Julius had to laugh. "Lyn, you were fresh and Roy's been at it for two hours. Give him a break."
