Chapter 4 - First Fight
"Uh, ese, not to challenge your authority, but I thought we were heading to Metropolis. So why are we heading towards Taos?" I asked, flying alongside the Super-Cycle as we passed over miles of traffic below.
"Because with this Team, and also with the League, the shortest route isn't always a straight line," he said. I looked at Wonder Girl for clarification, but she shrugged and grinned.
"He was trained by Batman, so he's pretty cryptic sometimes, but what he means is that we got teleporters," she explained.
"Oh, cool."
Soon, the traffic dispersed into the city, but we kept flying until we reached a large facility composed of large white buildings. In front of the building was a large sign that read, 'S.T.A.R. Labs'.
Warning, Abigail Wilson. That facility contains people who would want to study this Scarab and test it. Caution is strongly advised.
I shook my head and thought to myself, 'No… Nightwing trusts these people. If he can trust them, I can trust them.'
But you cannot trust the Nightwing.
I continued to ignore the Scarab and we entered the facility through a large hatch in the roof. A scientist greeted us and Nightwing explained the situation. He understood and took me to a strange scanner that scanned my body measurements. He left with the information after leading us to a large cylindrical tube thing. As we waited, I began to realize that this was a bad idea. My parents didn't know that I had this… stuff and if I didn't come home tonight, they'd become very worried and scared. I told this awkwardly to Nightwing and he replied, "They won't be. We informed them of your situation."
"... what?!" I asked.
I told you not to trust the Nightwing, Abigail Wilson.
"You're still a minor and as such, the League contacted your family before we came and picked you up. They agreed that if you needed to learn how to use your powers, you should learn it from people with experience," he said simply. I took a deep breath, soaking in the fact that my parents probably now knew why I was constantly covering my walls in stuff to hide marks made accidentally by the weapons that I could form. Before I could say anything else, the scientist returned and said, "Kid's been scanned. You're good to go."
"Thanks. Super-Cycle, Sphere-Mode, please."
The Super-Cycle suddenly rumbled violently. I stepped back in surprise, thinking that it was reacting to my presence again, but I was wrong. The parts started folding inwards and the when the red parts started to turn over, the other side was revealed to be a dull but very shiny silver. The Sphere roared and beeped, just like the Super-Cycle had.
"Beetle, meet Sphere," Wonder Girl said, smirking at my astounded face.
"That was cool. Can she do it again?" I asked, marveling at the fact that something the size of a small speed boat could become something the size of a large beach ball.
"Some other time," Nightwing chuckled. I reached out to pet Sphere, but she rumbled at the same time that the Scarab said, Warning, Abigail Wilson. The technology used to make the 'Super-Cycle' is not compatible with our armor.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Means that we need to go," Nightwing explained, clearly thinking that I was talking to him. He walked into the tube with Cassie.
"Uh, if we're heading towards a crisis, shouldn't we take a plane or something?" I asked, cautiously following them into the tube.
"Crises, multiple all over America and to the moon at the moment," he said, "and this is much better than any plane."
An automated voice spoke out suddenly, saying, "Recognized: Nightwing-B-0-1, Wondergirl-B-2-1, Sphere-C-0-1, Blue-Beetle-A-1-2."
I felt tingles all over my body and a golden glow filled my vision, blocking everything from view. This strange sensation continued for no less than ten seconds, then stopped. I blinked the spots out of my eyes and saw that we were now outside in an environment completely different than that of Taos. The sky was murky with pollution and the buildings were more business like than Pueblo. In the center of it all was a large white building with a giant 'W' imprinted on the side.
"That's Gotham," I said, stepping out of the tube and looking around. "How- what-"
You have been teleported.
"Welcome to a life of working with the League," Wonder Girl said. "We have teleporters. Come on."
Sphere rumbled again and unfolded, becoming the Super-Cycle again. She clambered in and once Nightwing was at the handles, we took off into the air.
"So, uh, ese, I know you explained this entire thing, but why didn't we just head straight to Metropolis?" I asked as we exited Gotham and started flying over a large expanse of water.
"Because of that," Nightwing said and pointed to Metropolis, which lay before us, surrounded in a large blue dome. What seemed to be a purple and green alien spaceship was hovering just above the field.
"Oh," I said, completely lost for words. We flew down to the ground, where a woman I recognized as Zatanna from the recent League induction was holding her hands up to the field. Purple waves emanated from her hands as she said, "Etaerc a cipocsorcim eloh ni siht ecrof dleif rof Mota!"
Do not apporach the Zatanna, Abigail Wilson. The amount of magical energy she has is dangerous to our armor.
"Any luck, Zee?" So if I was doing this, I really would be working with the League… huh, this offer was actually sounding really appealing.
I landed next to Cassie and as Zatanna said, "No," I looked through the shield. There were a ton of civilians near the field and two heroes, only one of which I fully recognized. Black Lightning, another new member of the League, and a girl who wore a costume suspiciously similar to Batman's.
"Where is Manhunter?" I heard Nightwing ask. Wait, Martian Manhunter's here?!
"My attempts to density shift through the field have failed." I jumped a foot in the air as the Martian Manhunter himself phased out of the ground beside me. Oh my… it's actually him. It's the actual Martian Manhunter. Zatanna… Martian Manhunter… Black Lightning… I wonder if there would be any other Leauge members coming. As if to answer my question, a red blur instantly announced the arrival of Central City's Scarlet Speedster, the Flash. Okay then… this is very cool.
"It's not letting me vibrate through, either," he said.
Something appeared on Flash's shoulder and after a second of staring at it, I realized that it was the Atom.
"The field is reinforced down to subatomic level," he said. The ground rumbled and I turned to see a large, multicolored drill coming out of the ground. It warped in shape until it became a very lanky man wearing a pair of ridiculously large goggles and a very small suit.
"Gang, this thing isn't a dome. It's a sphere going all the way down and around!" Plastic Man said.
All of the heroes here have powers that the shield's abilities counteract. No one can enter and no one can leave.
I turned to Cassie.
"Okay… I know this is a crisis and all, but-"
"Coolest day of your life?"
"Definitely," I said.
"Well, don't worry. It gets cooler… hopefully," Cassie said.
"What could make this cooler?" I asked.
"I dunno, maybe going into the spaceship up there?" she said, pointing at the purple and green ship above us. On cue, the ship hummed loudly and a green beam shot out of the bottom and hit the sphere surrounding the city.
"What is that?" I asked Cassie.
"Not sure. It's definitely doing something, it's not just a random beam that's going to sit there for who knows how long," she said.
You should not trust the Wonder Girl, Abigail Wilson. She makes excuses and is far to enthusiastic for this type of situation, and as are you.
"Then what is it?" I asked.
"Maybe it's going to take away the field."
"We're going to find out," Nightwing said, approaching us. "You two, the Super-Cycle, Zatanna and I are going up there to find out what this alien's intentions are."
"Oh… so we're going to go talk with… aliens?" Wonder Girl asked excitedly.
"Yep. Come on. Beetle, you need to ride in the Super-Cycle. Zatanna is going to be casting a glamour charm and needs on large mass to do it rather than one large and one small," he said.
"Got it." We followed him away from the .
"Hi, you must be the new Blue Beetle," she said and held out her hand.
"Maybe, I'm still thinking about it," I said and shook.
"I think you should take it up," she said. "It'd be worth it, but we can talk about that later, we have a job to do for now."
So we followed her and Nightwing into the Super-Cycle. We were waiting for something, but I didn't know what until both Nightwing and Zatanna held their hands up to their ears.
"That's the signal," he said and Zatanna held up her hands.
"Etaerc a ruomalg dna elffab lla dnuos gnitaname morf nihtiw," Zatanna said and instantly, the Super-Cycle lifted off of the ground and a purple bubble surrounded us. The Super-Cycle rumbled and we flew high, high above the force field, past Flash and Martian Manhunter.
"Weirdest… day… ever…" I whispered.