Chapter 2
…El Paso
A group of teenagers were sitting at a bus stop. There were five of them, two boys and three girls. Behind them was another teenager with long black hair, Tye Longshadow. He stopped and leaned against the wall.
He pulled out his phone and dialled. "Hey Jaime. I can't take it anymore. I've gotta get out of here. I'm and the bus stop, going to Houston tonight. Just called to say bye."
"Wait, wait, wait. Tye. I'm on my way, we need to talk before you do something you might regret. Wait for me."
"No promises."
Blue Beatle flew out of his bedroom window and flew to the bus depot that Tye was supposed to be at. But when he got there he wasn't there. Neither was the group of teenagers from before.
Jaime retracted his suit and began looking for his friend.
He searched for a few minutes, but he didn't find anything and sat on the bench. "I wonder if he got the bus already" he asked himself. But as soon as the words left his mouth the bus to Houston pulled up next to the bus stop.
Jaime then checked the bus timetable. "That was the last bus… and there wasn't one before that either. Where are you."
…Qurac
Miss Martian, Bumblebee, Batgirl and Wonder Girl. Nightwing was displayed on the screen "Investigating the origin of the alien bomb which was used on Malina island is still a top priority. We suspect that the bomb was smuggled to Earth via Boom tube. The Watchtower's sensors picked up an increase in Boom tube activity in Bialya. Alpha squad. Your mission is to-"
"Sneak behind enemy lines, recon known Boom tube hotspots and find alien tech matching the bomb. Also, don't get caught and cause an international incident. Right." Wonder Girl interrupted.
"That about covers it. As for Psimon, M'gann. We have confirmation that he's still in his hospital bed in a catatonic state after his last bout with you."
"Good" Miss Martian added.
"We have received reports that Black Adam is in Bialya."
"Black Adam? Is he going to be at any of the locations?" Batgirl asked.
"We're not sure. But I have Superboy on a separate mission in Bialya. If you spot Black Adam contact me. I'll get Superboy to pay him a visit and provide a distraction for you to finish your mission."
"We also have reason to believe that Queen Bee is involved with all this. Her ability to control the minds of men is why I've picked an all-female squad for this mission."
Bargirl smiled. "Oh really, and would you've felt the need to justify an all-male team for a given mission?" she folded her arms. The others glared at Nightwing.
"Well umm… I umm… there's no right answer for that, is there?"
The girls kept glaring at him. "Well *cough* Nightwing out."
The girls all started to laugh.
…Bialya
After checking several deserted sites, they arrived at one which was heavily guarded. There were patrols of soldiers circling the site. There were several armoured trucks as well.
"Alright, me, Batgirl and Bumblebee will infiltrate while you keep watch her Wonder Girl" Miss Martian instructed.
"What? Why am I staying here?" Wonder Girl complained.
"Cass. There's no one I'd rather have at my back in a firefight, but this is a stealth mission and you aren't the stealthy type" Batgirl said, Wonder Girl sighed, and they left.
Bumblebee shrank, Batgirl grappled into the vents and Miss Martian went invisible and flew through the walls.
They searched the facility while Wonder Girl kept an eye on the outside. "I'm so… wait, who's that?" she spotted a truck stop in front of the location. Icicle Jr, Mammoth, Devastation and Shimmer climb out of the back of the truck and Psimon climbs out of the front.
"Oh no. I can't use the mind link. He'll know, but I have to warn them."
She flew into a small hangar, she slipped through a partially open window and landed quietly next to Miss Martian. She put her fingers to her lips and pointed to her head, she then pointed to Psimon.
"Alright. We need to warn the others. I'll find Bumblebee, you find Batgirl. We need to warn them ASAP" she whispered. "Hey, you did good Cassie" she complimented her.
Miss Martian phased through the wall and went in search of Bumblebee. Wonder Girl flew through the window again, but her shadow passed along the ground, in front of Devastation. "Wonder Brat!" she leapt into the air, grabbing her by the leg and slamming her against the ground.
"This is Devastation. We have an intruder. Initiate lockdown." All the soldiers rushed into action, the doors of the hangars closed, and the team was trapped inside.
Wonder Girl kicked Devastation in the leg, knocking her over.
"Who's that?!" Icicle Jr asked, running over to them.
"Dunno. Wonder Brat, Wonder Blonde. Who are you little girl?" she grabbed Wonder Girl and threw her to the ground, putting her arms behind her back she pinned her there. "Seems she's less than forthcoming with that info."
"She isn't here alone no doubt. Sweep the facility, now!" Psimon ordered.
Icicle Jr fired at Wonder Girl, hoping to freeze her, but Wonder Girl flew upward dodging the attack and knocking Devastation off her. "Stop her!" he yelled firing ice at her, the soldiers next to him also fired at her, but she was too fast and any bullets that got close were deflected by her bracers.
The soldiers moved in small groups of four or five, searching everywhere.
Miss Martian hid behind a set of crates, but Batgirl and Bumblebee, who had met in a vent found their way down to a lower level, with a much larger hangar and some very old ruins. "This place must be thousands of yeas old" Bumblebee admired the ruins. "Looks like a temple."
Batgirl had walked off, when Bumblebee turned she saw Batgirl standing in front of several pods, each containing a teenager.
She tried to speak but suddenly Batgirl collapsed.
Psimon walked over with Shimmer and Mammoth. Icicle Jr and Devastation came over a couple of seconds later, but noticing Mammoth moving Batgirl into a pod he protested. "Are you kidding me! A couple of kids go missing from the streets and no one cares, but she's a bat brat. The Big bat will be looking for her."
"Batman isn't in the picture" Psimon assured him. "And if anyone else misses her. Well, Psimon says he just doesn't care."
"I like how that pretty brain of yours works" Devastation put her hands on his shoulders and leant closely to him.
"Good. Now load the cargo, the bat brat included" he ordered Devastation. She complied and with Mammoth's help she began loading the pods onto a cargo plane. There were dozens of pods, each of which contained a teenager that was unconscious.
"Call up our friend too. If they become a problem, he can deal with them with little cost to ourselves" he instructed.
…
Wonder Girl and Miss Martian were standing outside planning what to do, they weren't able to find the others and were worried. "Its been too long, something happened and its all my fault" Wonder Girl paced.
"Cassie, calm down. Every mission takes a bad turn, but we have to adapt. That's lesson one"
"Sounds about right"
"Bee!" Cassie said cheerfully. "You're okay."
"Was there ever any doubt?"
"Have you seen Batgirl?" Miss Martian asked, getting the conversation back on track.
"She was captured, but they called in help. I think it's Black Adam. Nightwing asked us to call if-"
"I don't wanna have to call in Conner. We can handle this."
They flew to the hangar making sure they were out of sight.
The plane was ready to go but it needed to be refuelled, Icicle Jr was refuelling the plane while the others waited, running final checks.
Miss Martian transformed into Shimmer, then landed silently behind Shimmer, attacking her psychically and knocking her out. Before she could hit the ground, she caught Shimmer with her telekinesis, then putting her gently to the side and out of sight.
Miss Martian then continued Shimmer's work, while Bumblebee flew into the ship unnoticed because of her small size. Once inside she found Batgirl and released her.
"What's going on?" Batgirl asked.
"They called for help, we think Black Adam's coming."
"Have you called Dick?"
"No. Miss M didn't want Conner to be involved."
"They need to sort whatever they have between them out. It's getting annoying."
"All done boss!" Icicle Jr shouted as he finished fuelling the plane.
Batgirl and Bumblebee went to the cockpit. Batgirl sat down and got ready to fly. Bumblebee watched the door in case they were found.
Wonder Girl entered, throwing the first punch against Devastation. "Round two Wonder Brat!" she yelled as the two started their fight on the roof of the plane. Batgirl started the plane at the same time.
The others ran after the plane, Mammoth grabbed one of the wings while Icicle Jr tried freezing the wheels, but he fell behind pretty quickly.
Miss Martian activated the lockdown to prevent any of the soldiers from getting involved, then followed the plane.
Wonder Girl kicked Devastation off the plane, then with Miss Martian they knocked Mammoth off. "Alright, we're in the clear" Miss Martian contacted Batgirl as she sunk into the plane with Wonder Girl.
*BOOM*
Suddenly the planes wing was torn off and an explosion tore the side open. The plane fell into the ravine below and the pods were scattered among the rocks. During the crash Batgirl and Bumblebee were knocked out.
"Is everyone okay?" Miss Martian lifted some of the rubble off the two unconscious girls.
"There is no point in struggling. You have already lost" Black Adam was floating above her with his arms folded. Miss Martian reacted by throwing debris from the crash at Adam, but he easily blocked the pieces with his hands and tore them apart.
During the short window that he was blinded by the rubble Miss Martian flew off with her friends trying to put distance in between her and Adam.
"You won't escape!" he chased after her.
…
Wonder Girl woke up several hundred metres from the crash, she had been thrown from the plane during the crash and was lying in a small crater that was made from her impact.
"Ouch" she rubbed her head, when she pulled her hand away from it she looked at the blood on her hand. There was a cut on her forehead that she had got when she hit the rock.
"Where is everyone?" she looked around and saw very little debris. "Great. I have no idea where I am."
She flew into the air and spotted the crash, but she also spotted Adam chasing the others. "Great. If you want call him I will"
…
Adam slammed Miss Martian into the ground, making her drop the other two. "ARGH!" she cried out as he punched her. "Urrrk" he grabbed her throat, but before he could do any real damage Wonder Girl flew in and hit him.
"You okay?" Wonder Girl asked.
"Yeah. We need to get the others out of here."
"I know, but we can't without getting rid of him first" she glared at Adam.
"That won't be easy."
"We only have to keep him away for a couple more minutes."
"Wait. Why only that long?"
"I called for help."
"You did what?! I told you not to!"
"That was before. We need help with Adam, the others could be down her to get the pods back any minute, we need help, even if you won't admit it."
Miss Martian didn't give a response.
The two of them fought against Adam, Miss Martian using boulders to slow him down while Wonder Girl exploited any openings to attack Adam.
But Adam was stronger, in one move he shattered a boulder and grabbed Wonder Girl by the throat. He squeezed until she couldn't breathe, Miss Martian tried to help but Adam grabbed her by the throat too.
"I told you that you wouldn't escape. With the power of six gods I am impossible for the likes of you to defeat."
"What about me" a voice came from behind him, when he looked Superboy was floating there in his suit, the present he got from Superman.
"And who're you supposed to be?" Black Adam asked, doubtful that Superboy could defeat him.
Cassie sighed in relief. Black Adam dropped Wonder Girl and punched Superboy, but Superboy dodged and hit him in the chest with a powerful kick.
He caught Miss Martian. Then followed Black Adam.
The girls finished their mission and head back. While Superboy and Black Adam's fight moves away from the site.
…Mount Justice
"It seems that Psimon was able to convince his doctors and other medical staff that he was in a coma, they've been tending to an empty bed for months. I'm sorry M'gann" Nightwing apologised for his oversight.
"It had to happen eventually."
"So, was there a sign of any alien tech?"
"None, but we found out that Queen Bee was acting as a middle man, for some other, unknown partner. At least that's how it appeared in Shimmer's mind." M'gann informed him.
"We checked, questioned all the abductees, most of the kids abducted were runaways." Batgirl added.
"Yeah, and all were kidnapped after the destruction of Malina Island." Karen added.
"So, if they weren't kidnapping them for the Kroloteans, then who were they abducting them for?"
"More unanswered questions" Wonder Girl commented.
"Questions keep the investigation going. You did well, saved lives and get each other home safe. That's a successful mission in my book. Good job."
The other girls gave Cassie a hug to congratulate her on her first successful mission.
…
When the girls had left Superboy returned, announced by the Zeta tubes. "Conner, good your back, let me catch you up on what the girls found out." He took Conner through everything.
"Great. Well I'll leave that to you detective. I need a shower."
"What happened to Black Adam?"
"He beat me. Got thrown into the ocean, he got away."
"You'll get him next time."
"Yeah. But I need more training first."
...Showers
Conner had removed his suit and was rinsing his body, he took the bar of soap and spread it over his body, then began rubbing.
He then shampooed his hair and rinsed that out.
There was a towel waiting for him near the door and he quickly dried himself, then put on a new pair of boxers and then going back to his room.
He and Cassie spent most of the night talking, getting to know one another better. Superboy told her how he was made and came to join the team, their earlier adventures and when they had to fight the League when they were being controlled.
She told him that she was related to the Greek gods and that her mother was an archaeologist and that Wonder Woman taught her to use her powers. "She didn't want me to join the team at first, she wanted me to go the Themyscira."
"Why didn't you? I mean it would suck if you did but…" Superboy stopped himself, not sure what he was saying.
"I get what you mean." She kissed him gently on the cheek. "Superman and Batman convinced her that it was a better idea that I train with people my age."
"Well I'm glad they did" they both kissed, she pushed him gently onto his back, he was lying under her on his bed.
They kissed for a while, he slid his hand under her shorts, but she stopped him and pulled back. "What's wrong?"
"It's uh… Conner, we can't do that. Not yet. I'm not ready"
He smiled and nodded. They kissed again, but briefly as her mum called her.
"Hi mum" she said turning and sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm still at Mount Justice… yeah… okay... sure" she spoke to her mum.
But Conner moved behind her, lifted her hair and kissed her neck. She moaned as he continued to kiss her on the neck, slowly moving upward and turning her head then kissing her on the lips.
She quickly ended the call with her mum. "I'm so grounded" she complained then they kissed again.