This whole Young Justice Hiatus situation is a love/hate thing with me. I hate it because I was just getting into it yet I love it because it gives me time to catch up to the current episode, which I love! Anyway, glad that you guys are sticking around and please continue to press that little button down there at the bottom.
Thanks and enjoy!
Act X, Scene I
July 22nd 11:01pm
Mana scowled as she walked about the factory, her arms crossed and her eyes wandering. Voices were faint along with the sound of machinery hard at work. Getting in had been simple enough, the girl having slipped in behind a forklift carrying product of what could have been Venom. The people all wore the same red robes as the 'cultists' Robin identified and-
Robin...
A glare set in the girl's fiery eyes as the thought of the brat came to mind. The rest of the team slowly filtered in and Mana once again found herself in a bad mood as realization flooded in too.
I don't even know what to do here. Do I blow up the building, hijack a crate of this stuff, or try to kill the leader?
Mana let out a frustrated and slightly hushed yell before running down the narrow hallway.
Small and empty offices were on either side, containing menial things.
The lights were dimmed, a dark red hue over everything. The actual work of the whole process, the production being done on the level below.
The ringleader, this so-called Kobra, was nowhere to be seen and when his appearance was to be made was anyone's guess.
Mana laid a finger against her comm, letting a slight growl in denial.
"I need help to get anywh-"
The girl's voice was cut off as a door was suddenly pushed open, her face painfully contacting with the metal. Yet she kept her mouth closed, gloved hands covering it as she heard voices on the other side.
"Yo, Rob! Whatcha got there?" The girl blinked, her eyes narrowing as the door slowly closed.
Great...they're here...
Letting out a defeated sigh, mainly from finally having to admit being wrong for once, Mana opened the door and removed her hands from her mouth.
"Hello." Kid Flash and Robin both turned to her, a grin on the redhead's and a smirk on the brat's.
"Nice to see you, beautiful." Mana rolled her eyes, dismissing the comment before walking up to the Boy Wonder; a computer screen displaying information stood before them all.
"Yeah, yeah. Rub everything in later, Robin. What do we have here?" The masked boy gave a smirk as the girl leaned in, the light reflecting off her eyes. Two separate compounds showed up on the screen before her.
"That's Venom." Kid Flash pointed out from Robin's opposite side. "And that's Cadmus' Blockbuster."
Mana raised an eyebrow as to how they were familiar to them but then was captivated as the two were mixed together on the screen and two columns came up on either side on the new drug.
One for Balance and the other for Strength.
"Does that mean they're stronger now?" She asked aloud, turning to the two.
"Yeah." Kid Flash slowly began. "Three times of Venom and permanent. But how exactly could Kobra get Blockbuster?" The girl huffed and straightened up.
"What does it matter, re-"
"Everything matters." Robin interrupted. "We only know one half of this equation...but seeing as Blockbuster was a Cadmus-only project, the buyer must also be the supplier."
"So the whole cult is working on making the product." Kid Flash surmised, Robin nodding in agreement.
Mana frowned, taking notice to something dripping down the side of her cheek. Wiping it away, she saw the bright crimson on her fingertips and superseded it and the bleeding wound all together.
"I'm confused. What's 'Cadmus' and 'Blockbuster'? Why are they so important?" Kid Flash turned from Robin.
"Cadmus is one big story and Blockbuster is just a side one that goes to it, I'll tell you on the way home. Okay, beautiful?" Mana's scowl was accompanied by a questioning look.
"Why are you calling me 'beautiful'?" Robin's snicker was heard and Kid Flash turned about, throwing his remaining candy bar at the raven-haired boy's head.
"Dude! Shut up!" The speedster yelled at his friend, though Robin's laugh continued despite that.
"I didn't say anything." He replied, his laughter dying out just as quickly as it had began.
Kid Flash did not reply as an explosion sounded, a fight of some sort lingering in the air.
Excited grin on her face, Mana whipped the door open and dashed down the hallway.
"Another fight!" The fire user hollered in happiness as her legs ignited into scarlet and she began zipping through the slim hallway.
"Mana Reira! Wait!"
Act X, Scene II
July 22nd 11:27pm
The three youngest members of the team finally converged moments later, Robin smacking Mana on the back of her head.
"That's for when you punched me earlier and for ditching us." He replied slowly. The girl growled immediately, a hand raised in retaliation however, she stopped after seeing the look Kid Flash gave her.
His emerald eyes were narrowed and his normal carefree expression was replaced by a knowing one usually displayed by Kaldur, who was known for scolding her on several occasions.
Lowering it, she pouted childishly and crossed her arms.
"Fine." She muttered, glancing down to the fight below. "I'm going."
Without any more words exchanged, Mana jumped over the railing and into the fight. Flames sparked about her entire body, fire scattering about before fully taking over everything.
The blaze, now more concentrated around her, began to increase in temperature until it turned a bright red.
Running into the fray, she watched in amusement as incoming bullets began to slowly melt, landing on the ground in a thin puddle. Smirking now, Mana dashed forward and punched forward.
Her flaming fist contacted with the closest cultist, his clothes catching aflame. One after another, she punched and kicked the cultists, and one after another, they either retreated or fell to the ground with their robes on fire or in tatters.
Ducking under a large gun, Mana jumped back with a grin and stood before them all with a proud feeling emanating from her very being.
The girl left out a laugh after seeing the same group before her but quickly stopped and managed to dodge the weapon headed toward her head from afar, a scowl now covering her face.
A man with a hockey mask and pads needed for some sport glared at her from nearly thirty feet away, their eyes meeting in a painful stare. Letting her right palm face him, her smirk formed once more.
"Technique -" Yet Mana was unable to finish, having been doused with a simple fire extinguisher from behind.
Eyes closed on reflex and her breathing now harsh, the fire user left out a loud and frustrated huff before turning around and wiping a minute amount of foam from her stinging cheek.
"Okay, whoever did that...dies now."
Opening her eyes, they quickly began to glow bright red and a series flames began to circle around Mana. The raven-haired girl let out an enraged yell and the flames, seeming to be equal with her own raging emotions, complied and shot upward and out.
Slowly, the fire encased the front of the factory and reached the crates of the old Venom and a few of the new product. A myriad of small explosions began to occur, detonating a few times every second as vial after vial of the drug exploded.
Everyone on line? The Martian girl's voice arose in the fire user's mind suddenly. Mana let out a deep breath and the flames began to subside nearly as quickly as they had begun
Yeah. Superboy didn't sound all too happy and Mana let out a slight laugh as she dashed to a safer spot where she was safe from the bullets raining down on her.
You know it, beautiful. With Kid Flash's reply, the crimson-eyed girl frowned in confusion.
I thought I was the one you called 'beautiful'. She asked, highly confused still over his 'terms' and 'flirtatious' ways.
Mana! Yeah. I mean-
Kid Flash! The girl winced at Aqualad's voice. Now is not the time! We all need to regroup.
Sorta busy! Mana rolled her eyes as she heard Robin's voice.
I think when Kaldur says 'regroup', he means all of us brat! She called out, eyebrows furrowed.
Robin, now! We all need to retreat! Kid Flash! Create a path. After hearing Aqualad's orders, the girl quickly jumped out and the escape began. The redhead was already gone and the others were already headed towards some side door. Dashing after Aqualad, she smirked.
"You know, Gills, you should be leader." He didn't reply to her as Superboy ran in after them, closing the door.
Yet, it didn't last long as a crash sounded.
"Superboy, break the support beams." Realization flooded through the girl's mind.
If the support beams of this tunnel go...then what happens?
Her answer came seconds later.
Cave-in.
Mana sprinted as fast as she could as rocks from the roof fell down before finally dividing the team from their enemies.
Within just mere seconds, everything was incased in darkness.
"Mana Reira, could you provide us with some light?" The fire user nodded and cupped her hands, holding them out from her body.
"Uh yeah...Technique 17: Celestial Fireflies." A flurry of small white balls floated from her palms and danced about, creating a soft glow around everyone.
"How could my very first mission as leader fail?" The girl turned to Robin, the 'fireflies' glowing more brightly.
"Not this again, brat." She growled out, arms crossing as her hands formed into tight fists. "You can't just make yourself, leader!" The Boy Wonder faced her; eyes narrowed...or as it seemed through his mask.
"Two things, no one ever made you leader either and stop calling me a brat!" Mana grit her teeth, the 'fireflies' now a deep red.
"I'll stop calling you 'brat' so long as you stop calling yourself the leader. We never made a decision and as far as I know, we're all equals in this so far." Aqualad stepped between the two.
"Mana, you need to find other ways to solve your problems. Feuding will not solve anything; it will only cause more complications. You work well...but you need to learn how to use your good attributes in a fight different ways to serve you well in this team. Am I clear?"
The girl, glaring to the side, nodded reluctantly as she received yet another scolding from Kaldur.
"And Robin, it may be because of your experience that has left you unprepared. Yes, you do have the most out of all of us but with Batman...you have very defined roles. Talking is not needed but with this team...we need as much conversation as we can get. This team is new and working alongside each other, we need the clearest and the most defined instructions we can get from a leader. They must not vanish, expecting others to carry out an unspoken plan."
Robin whipped towards him, a scowl on his face.
"So I'm just supposed to hold everyone's hand along the way?" Mana raised her hand, ready for another try at smacking the brat. "Who am I kidding? You should be the leader, Aqualad."
The fire user blinked, slowly lowering her hand with a smile.
"Told you, Gills." She mumbled, leaning against the rough dirt wall as the 'fireflies' faded to a fluorescent white, almost like that of a light bulb. "Go on, you're perfect. Cool-headed, calm. I mean, I think the only reason I sort of listen is because of all the times you yell at me. Though most of the time it's not my fault. But I didn't even mean to set the kitchen on fire that one time-"
"Mana!" Said girl shut up from Robin's voice and smiled sheepishly.
"You get it." She concluded finally.
"Wha-! I could run circle around him all day lo-"
"Wally." Mana gave a knowing look to the speedster, who stopped speaking immediately, after finally using his real name for the first time. She placed a finger to her lips and smiled condescendingly. "Shut up."
"Hello, M'gann! It's so obvious." She smacked her forehead as Superboy nodded.
"She's right." The entire group turned to Kaldur as Kid Flash sighed.
"Okay, now what?" Aqualad walked up to Robin, placing a hand on the young boy's shoulder.
"I will take the full burden and responsibilities as leader until it is your time to take it from me. You were destined to lead this team at some point. But this is not the time however, it shall be soon." He then turned to the rest, Mana congregating with the rest of the team. "Our task at hand is to stop the shipment from leaving Santa Prisca."
The crimson-eyed girl smirked, leaning forward.
"Do I get to blow something up?" The looks everyone gave her answered her eager question instantly. Her smirk fell.
"Damn..."
I wanted to finish the episode in this chapter but...it is nearly 2 am and I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible. I hope my sleepiness doesn't show, seeing as how it usually gets terrible around this time.
I'll finish up the episode next chapter, promise! *sparkly promise eyes*
Okay, need your opinions on:
Mana Reira on the topic of Mary Sues, superhero names, and if I should slowly start to mix in her own past into the story (as I said in the last chapter's ending note)
The story and this chapter in general
What I can do to make everything better!
Thanks everyone and...
Review pretty please!
light glows brightest in the dark~
the-pyro-princess13