The girl knelt next to the giant crater. Two large curves arched from her shoulder blades as she shivered in the cold night air. Her hair turned a shade of black so dark, it rivaled the sky above her. She moved closer to small fire in front of her, stirring the embers with a stick so that the sparks swarmed around her like small, molten fireflies.
She glanced over her shoulder and stared past the great arcs on her back, towards the crater hole. It was almost fifty feet across in diameter and twenty feet deep. The rock inside the crater was still molten and burning red, the impact had sent a dark pillar of smoke into the air, obviously it would gain unwanted attention.
Her bright eyes landed on the large storm cloud grey rock in the center of the crater. It was tall, a few feet taller than her, and a rough cylindrical shape, at both ends the edges curved slightly. It would have been exceptionally normal to look at if it weren't for the fact that it had a gaping hole in the side, exposing the mass of glittering red gems inside. It was a geode. A very large one at that.
Geologists would have a field day examining this. It might just have been a sparkly space rock to an untrained eye but it was Alien technology. The girl knew this; she had woken up inside it, in darkness, but when she reached out, the darkness had dispersed as a hole opened up and allowed the bright eyed girl to see starlight for the first time.
The girl knew it would be wise to move and get away but still she stayed. She had no memories of where she had come from but she could hear a voice whisper in the back of her mind.
"Stay where you land. Help will come"
So she sat, basking in the warm glow of the fire and molten rock around her, and watched as the hole in the rock sealed itself, becoming nothing more than a meteorite again.
The girl sighed and looked down at the dying embers in front of her, in her peripheral vision she saw a pair of black shoes and she sprung round to stare at the wearer.
He was a tall man, clocked all in black with piercing eyes. He studied her intently and her hair darkened as she noticed he was not alone. A man dressed in red and blue with dark hair stood behind the cloaked figure with a dark haired woman dressed in a similar style standing beside him. A man with green skin stood behind them, which brought slight relief to the girl as she realised she was not the only alien present.
"A pod?" The man in black questioned. He turned to the green skinned man and they exchanged a series of facial expressions. The girls brow crinkled, were they using a mental link? What were they saying? Plans to kill her? Maybe they were not the help she had been told she would receive.
The woman seemed to sense her worries and stepped forward, kneeling down in front of her "What is your name, child?".
The girl shook her head and the woman seemed to get the message "You don't understand English".
This caught the attention of the black cloaked man and the green skinned alien. They turned to her and after a nod from the former, the latter stepped forward and a moment later she heard a deep voice in her head.
"You are Azarian?"
It came like a tidal wave she suddenly understood the language like it had been her mother tongue, every word ever recorded she could say and recite the meaning for and she stared wide eyed at the green man before giving a slightly startled nod, "I am".
He nodded and the girl registered his face may have been cold but it held traces of care, like he knew and loved someone of a similar age to her "What is your name, young one?".
She spoke out loud this time "My people call me Inferna".
The man in black turned to the green skinned man "Any ill intentions?"
"None that I can see, though it appears she may have forgotten a few things" He replied.
"Probably from the journey, space waves can have that effect." The man in red and blue spoke, his eyes surely trained on the column of rock.
The woman spoke next "Her memories should return soon but for now, what do we do with her, Batman?"
The man in black, Batman, she guessed, flicked something on a contraption he wore on his wrist and met her eyes "We do what Barbatos asked of us."
A sharp pain hit the girl in the neck and her eyelids suddenly felt as heavy as lead. Her body slumped towards the cold ground and the arcs on her back folded in comfortably. She lost consciousness before she hit the ground.
On the coast of Happy Harbor, Mount Justice stood tall and proud. The scenery around it was quiet and still. A moment of peace settled and lingered far longer than anyone was used to. Obviously, it would have to come to an end.
A dark haired boy sat on the couch in the living area, he had his utility belt laid across his lap as he tinkered with it. All was peaceful in their Secret Sanctuary until there was an angry shout.
"Wally!"
The next thing the boy wonder knew was a rush of familiar wind slapping him in the face as he looked up and his eyes were met with hyperactive and alway hungry Wally West. Aka Kid Flash.
"Hey K.R" The dark haired boy greeted, giving a slight wave "Up to no good again?"
The ginger boy chuckled "Who me? I'm hurt Rob. I'd never do that" Wally announced with mock hurt.
Robin raised an eyebrow, setting his utility belt aside "Athena?"
Wally's grin widened "Naturally"
There was a sound of shoe sole scraping against wooden floor as another body rounded the corner and charged into the living room. She was dressed in a dark green cat-suit with vines and leaves wrapped around her arms and lower ankles, her eyes were the same dark shade of jade as her outfit and her hair fell to her shoulder blades in gentle waves of brown. She glared at the yellow and red clad hero in front of her.
"Aww man, what'd you do K.F?" Robin groaned.
The girl spoke, through what sounded like grit teeth "He kept moving all my plants. Every time I placed one down he used his super speed to pick it up and put it down somewhere else so I didn't know where they were. Some of my plants almost died."
Wally backed away, hands raised in surrender, as the girl stormed towards him "Oh come on, Athena, it was a joke".
Athena glared at him and it was obvious she was not impressed. Athena possessed the ability of Botanokinesis. The kinetic ability of manipulating and generating plants. She cared a lot about all flora in general and hated it when another member of the team disrespected her plants. Like Wally usually does.
"A joke?" She asked incredulously, "Wally, you almost killed my plants!".
He shrugged "Couldn't you make more?"
Now Athena smirked and stepped towards him "That I could". The tables turned as she raised her hand toward the potted plant that sat in the corner of the living area. It wriggled to life and the leaves grew and writhed towards Wally before wrapping around him tightly like snake.
He began to struggle "Aww come on!".
Athena and Robin laughed but it was short lived as Batman's voice resounded through their coms. "Team, assemble in the hall; you have a mission".
Wally sighed in relief "Great timing as always, Batman". He smiled smugly as Athena loosened the plants around him and lowered him to the ground.
"You got lucky" She warned, walking off towards the meeting point.
Robin stood and followed her, clapping Wally on the shoulder as he went "One would think, from all the times you've done it, you would learn not to mess with her".
The ginger speedster only shook his head, before living up to his name and disappearing in a flash.
Chuckling slightly, Robin entered the hall and saw that all his team were already there. There was Kaldur'Ahm or Kaldur for short also known as Aqualad. He was from the city of Atlantis. His powers were water control, channelled by the tattoos on his arms. A mix of ever famous Atlantean sorcery and science.
Next was M'gann M'orzz, Miss Martian. She was a Martian and Martian Manhunter's niece. She had the ability of telekinesis, flight, telepathy, Which had gotten the team out of a lot of trouble, and human shapeshifting.
Of course, there was Wally, standing beside the teams archer, Artemis Crock. She, unlike everyone in the team besides Robin, didn't posses magical related abilities but she made up for it with deadly accuracy with a bow and practised fighting techniques.
Then there was Conner Kent, Superboy. He was a clone of Superman, made by stolen DNA by Project Cadmus. As a clone, he had most of the abilities Superman had ,given that he was half kryptonian, except flight and laser vision.
Finally, there was Selene Lyssa Reyes or Lumen. With her silvered blonde hair cut into a straight bob and her slightly orange pale hazel eyes, she was the team's resident light manipulator. She wore a white dress with a skirt that covers one leg, it was embellished with black piping, Black tights led to knee-length boots. On her arms lay mid-bicep-length black gloves. She could draw light from pretty much anything.
Kid Flash turned to greet the late comer "Little late, aren't we Rob?"
Stopping as he stood next to his mentor, who was facing the holographic screens, he addressed his friend "Well, not all of us can run at the speed of sound, K.R"
"If you two are finished" Batman said, turning from the screens to face them "We have an issue".
"Which would be?" Athena asked.
Batman gestured for them to look at the screens, they did and saw a video playing "This comet was seen entering our atmosphere six months ago"
Selene nodded "The red comet, it passed over Star City, it's just a normal comet it only gained more media attention because it burned more and was a dark red, hence the name"
"All correct but it's not just a comet"
Artemis cocked her head "So you want us to find it?".
"No, myself, Superman, Wonderwoman and Martian Manhunter were called out to investigate the comet. The Justice League had picked up alien energy radiating from it. We had found that it wasn't a comet but a pod".
Miss Martian furrowed her brow "A pod? Like an escape pod?"
"Exactly like that, but the reasons behind the journey still remain a secret as the occupant had forgotten her memories of the events before entering the pod on her home planet, Azari. The Justice League took the Azarian to the Justice hall and we helped her remember small details. Once it was clear she was not hostile, we began training her. The Hawks took quite a lot of convincing, but they became her main mentors"
"And you're telling us this because?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.
Shooting a glare at the boy wonder, Batman continued "Because, During a training exercise, The girl was captured by Cadmus".
Startled glances flew around the room. Eyes of green, blue, hazel, orange or grey all eventually landed on Superboy. His crystal blue eyes were hard and filing with anger, his hands fisted at his sides. They all knew what Cadmus had done, they had made him, given him life. Though he still held a grudge against the company.
"This is a search and rescue mission, the League would take control but they would be expecting us to strike, besides, you have knowledge about Project Cadmus. Get there, find the Azarian and bring her back to base. That is all. Good Luck".