June 22nd Mount Justice

"Team, report to the briefing room."

When I heard Bat's voice on the speakers, I couldn't help but feel excited. We finally had our first official assignment. I practically bolted out of my room barely dressed for public, my clothes sloppily thrown on. When I got there I saw everyone else had already arrived, with Wally munching on chips, and Batman glaring at me.

"You should be dressed better for your first mission." He said. I just shrugged.

"I was excited." I said. He just continued glaring at me. I scoffed. "Dude your glare has nothing on my mom's when she's angry, so don't bother." Everyone just stared at me slacked jawed for resisting the infamous Bat-glare with no visible effort, and I could barely see Batman's eyes unnoticeably widen. I congratulated myself for breaking his emotionless façade before falling in line between Conner and M'gann. The B-man just turned around and begun the briefing.

"Isla Santa Prisca. This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neosteriod. A strength enhancing drug sold under the street name 'Venom.' Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory is operating at full capacity, but all shipments of Venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in" He turned to look at us. "This is a covert, recon mission only. Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will. The plan requires two drop zones." When he finished, Robin spoke up.

"So who's in charge?" He asked. Both Tornado and Batman turned to us before looking at each other.

"Work that out between you." Said Batman. I saw Robin smirk, and I internally groaned. I knew he was going to try and take over without giving any one any orders. When we were dismissed, I put my arm on M'gann and Conner's shoulders.

"So you two excited?" I said with an ear splitting grin. M'gann smiled while Conner was quiet as ever. Odd considering how often he yells when he's fighting.

"I am. More nervous than anything though." She said. I just looked at her with a kind smile.

"Don't worry, just trust your skills, and that we'll all have your back in case anything happens." I said. Conner nodded.

He's right. We'll help you anytime." He said. I looked at my watch.

"We'll, I'm gonna go gear up. I'll see you guys at the bioship." I said. As I walked away I waved at them. I couldn't wait to test out my new gear.

June 22nd Caribbean Sea

A few hours later, we were aboard the bioship, with everyone in uniform. I was set for Drop Zone A with Aqualad, and I could still see Robin's smirk. I wondered how long he was going to obsess over being leader before Miss Martian's voice brought me out of it.

"Drop Zone 'A' in 30." She said as Aqualad and I stood up, and he pressed his belt buckle to activate his suits new stealth mode, while I took off my coat. My shirt had a new addition of a back pack attached to it.

"Ready." He said. Miss Martian looked to me, and I nodded at her.

"Putting bioship in camouflage mode." As the ship descended, Wally spoke up.

"Hey Cardmaster, why didn't you grab the new stealth tech?" He asked. "It's pretty sweet." I just looked at him.

"Dude, my suit is blue and black. Does it look like I need to be more invisible?" I said. Then I heard Miss Martian speak up.

"It totally works for you." She had a dreamy look for a second before snapping out of it. I just smirked at her as she started blushing. "In that you can totally do good work in those clothes." I smiled and activated my suit's rebreather, bringing up a mask that covered up to my nose and when a hole opened in the bottom, I jumped down alongside Aqualad. We swam forward past mines, and when we came across a large net, the Atlantean cut a hole large enough for us through it with his water bearers. We got to shore and ran forward, reaching a large transmitter. When we got there, we grabbed our jammers. He looked at me and counted down with his fingers, and when he reached one, we placed the jammers on the transmitter at the same time. Soon the machine dinged, and I reached for my communicator.

"Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in." I said. I could barely see the bioship pass over us as we set off. I heard Miss Martian speak up a few minutes later.

"Aqualad, Cardmaster, Drop 'B' is go." She said. Now Aqualad spoke up.

"Head for the Factory. We'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP." He said. Then Robin's voice came over the radio.

"Roger that." I heard him say. I turned to Aqualad.

"So who do you think should be the leader?" I asked him. He looked at me.

"I do not know." He said. I just shrugged.

"Well I think it should be you." I said. He looked at me shocked.

"You do not want to lead?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I have never led anyone but myself. And the others are either too focused on being the leader themselves, or are too inexperienced for it." I said. Before he could say anything, I heard Superboy's voice on the comm's.

"Did you hear that?" I couldn't hear anything, so I assumed it was either near them, or his super-hearing.

"Huh? No. Wait, is this a super-hearing thing." Kid Flash spoke up. "OK, Rob, now what." There was no response. "Man I hate it when he does that." I groaned.

"He ghosted again didn't he?" I said. I got a grunt of confirmation before Aqualad spoke up.

"Superboy, Kid, switch to infrared. See if you're being tracked." There was a pause for a minute before Kid spoke up again.

"There's a squad of armed bozos incoming." There was another pause before Superboy spoke up as well.

"Two squads. But they'll meet each other before they find us." Suddenly I heard gunfire in the distance.

"No super-hearing required now." Kid said. I sighed.

"This is why I use my cards, guns are too loud." I said. Aqualad started to give orders.

"Swing wide, steer clear." He said. I heard Kid Flash start to speak up.

"Yeah, just as soon as I find Rob." He said. I widened my eyes.

"Kid don't! He can take care of himself." I said. But it was too late. On the other end of the communicator I could hear him slip, and I just knew he was staring a bad guy in the face.

"So much for the stealthy." He said. I groaned as Aqualad and I set off to meet up with the others.

"This is why you're the best choice for leader." I told Aqualad. He didn't answer as we ran. When we got there, all but two of the thugs had been taken down. I went after one while Aqualad went after the other. I got on to a branch, grabbed the guy with a rope and pulled him up; only for him to see the psychotic smile I had on my face before I knocked him out. A few hours later, we had tied up all of the thugs, and Robin got a good look at the red robed goons.

"I recognize those uniforms. They belong to the Cult of the Kobra." He said. Aqualad turned to him.

"I'm certain Batman would've mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's venom operation." Robin nodded.

"Agreed. And since there's clearly no love lost between the cultist and those goons, I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed them out. That's why normal supply lines have been cut off." I had a feeling there was more going on, but before I could voice it, Flash spoke up.

"We get it. Kobra wanted super cultists. Mystery solved. Radio Bats and we'll be home in time-" Now I interrupted him.

"There's more to it than that." I started. "If they just wanted Venom, they could've kept the supply lines open, cause this stuff is very expensive to make. Not only that, but these guys aren't even on the stuff anyway." Robin agreed with me.

"He's right. Kobra's hoarding the stuff. We don't leave. Not until I know why." I glared at him as Kid spoke up.

"Until you know why?" He said. Robin was unfazed.

"This team needs a leader." He said. Kid just scoffed.

"And it's you? Dude, you're a 13-year old kid, who ducked out on us without a word." He said. Robin laughed.

"And you're a mature 15? You blew our cover first chance you got." As they kept arguing I was sure multiple tick marks appeared on my head.

"Enough!" I quietly yelled. "Neither of you have what it takes to be a leader, if all you do is argue about it." I looked at Robin. "You didn't give any sign that you had a plan, and you can't just assume we know what you're going to do." Then I turned to Kid. "And you didn't trust that Robin knew what he was doing, when he did something that is his specialty." Before I could continue I heard chuckling. I turned to see someone I recognized.

"Such clever niños. But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest, get you into the factory via my secret entrance." Said Bane. Miss Martian stepped in front of him.

"There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something." Before she could try to read his mind, I stopped her.

"Don't bother Miss Martian." I said. "He's too experienced with interrogation for you to get inside his head." Then I turned to Bane. "So Baney-boy, how have you been?" He chuckled.

"I thought I recognized you. I never would've thought you would end up with a team of superheroes." He said. I simply shrugged.

"Stuff happened, and here I am. But you certainly look better than the last time I saw you, considering Bats beat into the floor." I taunted. "So what's your play? Why offer to help us?"

"It's not complicated. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." He said. I nodded.

"Makes sense." I smiled. And then I grabbed a Diamonds and threw it right between his legs. "But if you double cross us, next time, the card goes higher." The smile never left my face as I felt a fearful respect for me emanate from the surrounding males. Bane himself had gone pale when he saw that my card was less than a centimeter away from a man's most prized possession. As Bane was untied Robin came up to me.

"You were bluffing about that, right?" He asked. I stared at him blankly.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's go with that." I said. A few hours later, we came to a cliff overlooking the factory. Robin and Kid Flash grabbed their binoculars and surveyed the area.

"Look at all that product." Said Robin. "A buy is going down. But if Kobra's not selling to the usual suspects, then-" Aqualad finished.

"We need to identify that buyer." Kid Flash spoke up.

"Just what I was thinking." He said. Robin scoffed.

"Yeah, you're the thinker." He said. Kid just glared.

"Sarcasm? Dude. A real leader would focus on getting answers." He countered. I groaned at their bickering until I heard a boulder being moved. I turned to Bane. He was in front of a secret tunnel.

"Answers are this way." He said. I followed after him as I heard Flash speak up.

"So, now el luchador is our leader." I frowned. Bane turned to me.

"This is what you deal with?" He said. I looked at him and sighed.

"When we have a plan, we're next to unstoppable, but those two are so focused on wanting to lead that it divides the team." I said. He nodded.

"I assume that they don't know who you are?" He asked. I glared at him.

"No. And they won't. Not until I'm ready for them to know." I said. "That's something else that will warrant a card between your legs." I threatened. He backed away slightly. Soon, we came across a high-tech door that Bane opened up. We walked into a hallway, and reached another, simpler door at the end. I discreetly opened it, and Robin stuck his head out.

"All clear." He said. He dashed out and disappeared.

"Has that little fool already been caught?" Bane asked. Aqualad answered.

"No, he just does that." He said. Kid Flash put on his goggles.

"Stay put. I'll get our Intel and be back before the Boy Wonder." He said.

"Wait, Kid!" Aqualad whispered. Bane scoffed.

"Great chain of command." He said. Quite sarcastically too. I grabbed some Spades cards, and threw them around the building. Then I looked at my gauntlet, receiving a video feed from each of the cards

"The venom is this way." I said. We all ran in the direction I indicated, and got behind crates of venom.

"It's a massive shipment." Said Aqualad.

"Yeah, but they're only taking new product off the line." Continued Superboy. "They're not touching this venom." Miss Martian spoke up.

"Maybe freshness counts?" She said. I shook my head.

"I don't think so. It's more likely they made some kind of change to the formula." I said. Then Superboy spoke up.

"Helicopters coming." We all looked up but couldn't see anything. We decided to move to a rafter, and when we got there, Aqualad sent Miss Martian to fly over to the deal camouflaged. A few minutes later, Aqualad opened his eyes.

"Sportsmaster. He is the buyer?" He went for his comm. "Aqualad to Red Tornado. Do you read?" All he got was static. "Can't reach the League, Robin, or Kid."

"We need a plan. Now." I said. Bane spoke up.

"I have a suggestion." All of sudden he jumped down and started attacking the cultists. I glared.

"What is he-" Before Aqualad could continue, he was interrupted by a roar. My instincts told me to jump, and when I did, something crushed the rafter we were on. When I turned, I saw a huge grey monster. I grinned sadistically.

"I call the big guy." I said, as I pressed a button on my gauntlet. Then the backpack I was wearing broke apart and started to cover my body. It was black and blue segmented armor with a face plate. "I've wanted to test this new suit I built." The monster just roared and charged. I did the same, just, without the yelling. We both slammed into each other, and he started to push me back. I used the boosters in my feet and arms to push forward and pick him up. When he was over my head, I threw him at the cultists in the back, knocking out all but three of them. The grey hulk got back up and charged again, this time faster than before. He hit me in the gut, and I would've punctured a lung if the suit hadn't redirected the force throughout my entire body, drastically reducing the damage. I used the recoil to gain some distance and grab a Clubs and Diamonds. I threw the Diamonds and make a small cut in his skin, and then I threw the Clubs at the cut, sending an electrical shock straight into his nervous system. Before the fight could continue, I felt Miss Martian's presence in my mind.

'Everyone online?' I heard her ask. Then Superboy and Kid responded.

'Yeah.'

'You know it beautiful.' I sighed.

'You really need to practice your pick up lines, Kid.' Then I heard Aqualad.

'Good. We need to regroup.' He thought. I heard Robin think as well.

'Busy now.' I could practically feel Aqualad's annoyance, something I was sharing.

'Robin, now!' He growled. When Robin conceded, Aqualad started proving my belief on his leadership correct. 'Strategic retreat. Kid, clear a path.' We all followed the speedster as he took out the cultists.

As I got to the tunnel, I looked back and saw Superboy throwing the big grey hulk at the advancing cultists. Once he got past me, we both closed the door and ran. I threw more Clubs behind us as the door was smashed in. Soon the cards exploded, sealing off the cultists, and shrouding us in darkness. After a few seconds, Aqualad broke a light-stick, giving the area a kinda creepy red glow. Robin was staring at the rubble.

"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Before I could tell him that he's not the leader, Aqualad spoke up.

"You do have the most experience. Perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared." He said. "Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are defined. You two do not need to talk." He continued. "But this team is new. And a leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish, and expect others to play parts in an unknown plan." Now Robin turned around.

"Oh, so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands." He sighed. "Who am I kidding? You should lead us Kaldur. You're the only one who can." I was honestly surprised by his admittance to not being able to lead. It earned him some more respect from me as a person. Then Kid ruined the moment.

"Please! I can run circles-" Before he could continue, Robin interrupted.

"Wally, come on. You know he's the one. We all do." He smiled at the end. I put my arm on his shoulder.

"What'd I tell you? Knew you were the best choice."

"Hello Megan. It's so obvious." Miss Martian said

"Could have told you." Conner joined in. Everyone looked at Kid. He just shrugged and smiled.

"OK." He said. Aqualad walked forward to Robin.

"Then I accept the burden." He put his hand on the Boy Wonder's shoulders. "Until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon." Robin just nodded. Aqualad turned to us. "All right. Our first priority is preventing that shipment from leading this island."

"Funny. I had the same thought." Robin joked.

After we had shared any info we gathered, we set off. Robin looked at his arm as a screen popped up.

"Sportsmaster's the supplier/buyer, but it still doesn't track. He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula, or to get Kobra to do his dirty work." He said. Kid joined in.

"And neither of them have the chops to bond Blockbuster with Venom. That took some major nerdage." Aqualad nodded.

"I believe the expression is 'tip of the iceberg.'" He said. Once we got to the end of the tunnel, Bane stepped out, fully Venomized.

"Halt, niños. I'm feeling explosive." We looked up and saw bombs strapped to the support beams. Aqualad spoke up.

"You betrayed us. Why?" When Bane spoke, I felt everyone's in my head again.

"I want my factory back." He said. Then I heard Aqualad in my head.

'Kid, you'll need a running start.' I saw Kid back up slowly out of the corner of my eye as Bane continued.

"So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying." He smirked. "If the latter, the Justice League would certainly have come to avenge their sidekicks. And when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would be mine, once more." He moved for the detonator. "Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect." When he tried to press the button, he saw the detonator was missing.

"With what?" Kid Flash was leaning on a tree with the detonator in his hand. "This trigger thingy?" He said. Bane just screamed and tried to punch Kid. But before he could, Miss Martian lifted him up with her levitation. I stepped forward.

"Finally." I said. My grin was psychotic, and from the look on Bane's face, quite terrifying. I got in position, and my arm was covered in the armor. "Drop him." When she did, I got an immense amount of satisfaction from punching Bane in the face. I turned to everyone. "So, what's the plan?"

Soon we were in position, and Aqualad gave the order. Kid Flash ran, taking out cultists left and right. Superboy jumped down in front of Kobra and his bodyguards, while I went with Robin to take on Kobra himself. Kid Flash ran by with a cultist's mask, while Robin used a bolo to tie up Kobra's bodyguard.

"I know you hate getting your hands dirty." Robin taunted. Kobra just turned to us slowly.

"True. But sometimes, even a god must stoop to conquer." He said. I just groaned.

"Great, someone else with a god complex." I said. We both charged at him as I threw my cards, but he dodged them all with minimal effort. Any strikes we made were either blocked or dodged, and when I tried a spinning kick to his head, he just caught my leg. Then he kicked Robin back and threw me at him. We collided and rolled back. Kobra just stood there calmly.

"What's wrong boy's? You look disconcerted." We just glared at him as we got back up and charged again. But we didn't fare any better than last time, as Kobra soon had Robin on the ground, and my neck in his hand. I could hear an explosion, and Kobra's grip tightened. "I am plagued by mosquitos." I could hear Robin talking.

"Good. Cause this mosquitos mighty concerted over your pain." He got out from under Kobra's foot as I put my legs to his side and pushed, getting out of Kobra's grip. We landed next to the others as I tried to catch my breath. The guy had a strong grip. Kobra just looked at us.

"Another time then." As he spoke he walked back into the forest, and I knew he was gone before Robin even went to check.

"Next time, I'll pound him into the ground." Growled the Boy Wonder. I shook my head as I stood up.

"Unless the next time is a long time from now, that is not gonna happen." I said. "We never even landed a hit on him, and he was holding back immensely. If he wanted us dead, we would be." I could tell Robin wanted to argue, but he sighed. Then he looked at Aqualad and smiled.

"We picked the right guy to lead." Then he walked up to him. "Automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman." He then laughed. I sighed.

"That's going to be fun." I said sarcastically.

August 4th Mount Justice

"A simple recon mission. Observe and report." Batman got in Kaldur's face, we were all in line. "You'll each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes." He walked in front of each of us. "Until then, good job." He smiled. I nearly fell. That was something I didn't expect.

"What do you mean? We blew our cover, destroyed the evidence, and royally screwed up. What was so good about this that it actually makes YOU, of all people, smile?" I asked. He just walked back along the line.

"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. Your ability to adapt to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads, determines character." I looked at Kaldur and Robin to see them both smiling. I chuckled.

A little while later, I heard knocking on my door. I opened it to find Robin glaring at me.

"What's up Boy Wonder?" I yawned. "I was just about to sleep."

"How did Bane know you?" He asked. I was instantly alert.

"If Batman hasn't told you who I am, then either he doesn't trust you with the information, or he trusts me to tell you and the team when I'm ready." I said. He kept glaring.

"That's not good enough." He said. "If your secrets jeopardize our team-"

"They won't." I interrupted. "I promise you that this team means more to me than my own life. And if that isn't good enough, than suck it up and move on." I closed and locked the door, before moving over to the closet, when I opened it; I found a picture of me and my mother, our twin blonde hair shining in the moonlight. It was the only picture with a genuine smile on my face, and not one my father forced on me.

"I hope your still alive, mom." I whispered.

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A/N: Alright, 2nd chapter done. Normally I wouldn't get a chapter out this quickly, but no one reviewed my last story as quickly as you guys, so I was inspired. Also, I have decided on a theme song for Jacob/M'gann, and it is 'Demons' by Imagine Dragons. I'll probably give theme songs for the rest of the team as well, but only one per chapter, cause there are a LOT of videos out there. Also, imagine Jacob's suit as the Green Goblin from Amazing Spiderman 2, but with a faceplate, two grenade launcher arms (without the grenades) and different colors.