Chapter Ten: Another Mystic
The team was in the bio-ship, flying in silence. Phantom and Siren were both practically radiating with anger and annoyance. Not even Cyborg dared to say anything to them. The trip was so silent that they could hear a feather drop. Impulse and Beast Boy had tried to have a conversation, but it quickly fizzled out because of the awkwardness in the air. The mission had the team consisting of Nightwing, , Superboy, Aqualad, Impulse, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Robin, Phantom, and Gold Siren. Phantom and Siren were at the back of the seating arrangements on the bio-ship.
After a year on the team, both had decided to change how they look for their hero forms.
Phantom had never felt comfortable in his hazmat suit in the first place. He changed to a black hooded cloak, with his DP symbol on the back, that matches his black and white jacket he has under it. The jacket also had ghostly green trim. He also wore black pants that went with his white boots with green laces.
Siren had previously worn just a simple vest, jeans, gloves, boots, and t-shirt for his hero outfit. Now he wears a white jean jacket, with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, over a gold t-shirt with a music pattern. He also had his same gold fingerless gloves. He wore white jeans with gold trim that went with his gold and white boots.
Both boys still had their same hairstyles as well as having their pendants around their necks.
As they approached Santa Prisca, they prepared for the mission. They flew down near the water to remain below the radar.
"Phantom, Siren."
The brothers turned from the windows they were staring out of.
"Are you two okay," M'gann asked.
"We're fine," White stated, though the looks on everyone's faces said that they didn't believe him. "Can we just get on with the mission?"
The rest of the team shared a slight look. Especially Nightwing, Superboy, and Aqualad. They knew full well why the twins looked like someone had kicked their puppy and they wanted to kill that person. Or, in this case, people.
"We're approaching Santa Prisca now," Dick said, the island coming into view. "Phantom, use your…"
He stopped when Phantom was already doing exactly what he was about to tell him to do. The halfa put his hands on the bio-ship wall, a blue glow admitting from the contact. The bio-ship, and everyone inside of it, all went invisible.
It had not taken long for the team to realize just how different 's camouflage was to Phantom's invisibility and intangibility. People like Sportsmaster or Vandal Savage could see the distortion in the air when camouflaged people or things moved. But with invisibility, there was nothing to see. Not even air movement. Siren liked to joke around and say how magic makes science look like it's from the 1700 century. Recon missions had definitely been more successful since discovering how Phantom could make the bio-ship invisible and intangible.
"Beta squad, get ready," Dick ordered.
Siren, Beast Boy, and Aqualad all switched to stealth mode. Superboy never had stealth tech, often with his signature line of "no capes, no tights, no offense." Nothing was ever said how neither Phantom or Siren wore a cape or tights. And no, the cloak that Phantom wears does not count as a cape.
" , link us up," Dick told the alien girl.
Her eyes glowed green for a second.
"Everyone online," she asked over the link.
"Nope," Conner responded.
The team looked over at the twins. It was not a secret that the two needed to often shield their minds. Phantom, because he used meditation and keeping his mind closed kept ghosts from trying to overshadow him. Siren, because he was shielding himself from the thoughts of others with his reading hearts ability acting up from time to time.
Both boys flashed their eyes for a second.
"We're good now," they said over the link.
"You two okay," Robin asked them. "You've been a little off since the briefing. Really, you've been off for most of the past few days."
"It's been a tough week," White deadpanned.
Robin nodded, just accepting it.
"Beta, your go," Dick ordered.
Siren, Beast Boy, Aqualad, and Superboy all jumped out of the bio-ship. Beast Boy became an eagle, carrying down Superboy so that he wouldn't slam into the ground and get them caught. Siren floated down, next to them, with Aqualad. They saw Alpha team drop out of the sky, aka the invisible bio-ship.
"Everyone in place," Dick asked.
"Me and Phantom are on standby, waiting for our signal," Tim said.
"Beta's on perimeter patrol," Kaldur informed. "So far, no signs of any of Bane's foot soldiers. They are most likely in other parts of the jungle in their own patrol."
"My and Siren's super hearing will pick any up if they're close by," Conner says. "We can silently sub do them."
"By that, he means I will make it silent while he makes as much noise as he always does," Siren said, dryly.
The tone in his voice made it hard to tell if he was trying to make a joke or was being serious. Phantom was usually the twin with the sense of humor.
"So… uh… got anything inside the warehouse," Gar asked, changing the subject back to the mission.
There was silence for a minute or so, the others taking in what they saw around the former drug factory.
"Well, for one thing, Bane has apparently taken up gardening," Dick told them.
You could practically hear most of the team raising their eyebrows at that piece of information.
"Wherever he is, Krinos is gonna be one pissed off lord of nature," Danny commented. "As if that guy doesn't have enough reasons to hate humans already."
"He hates humans anyway," White scoffed. "Not that I blame him. Every earth I've seen always has humans finding ways to pollute the very planet they live on. I'd join that bandwagon if I could."
Even more awkward silence.
"Okay, then," Tim says. "What do the flowers look like?"
"They look like roses, but are a darker shade of red," Cyborg explained. "Almost the color of blood. And their stems are dark purple. I'm running a scan to see if there are any like it."
"Not to crash your idea, Cy, but something tells me that scan might be a waste of time," Impulse said. "There aren't even flowers like this in the future. Or flowers in a general sense, really."
"And what about in the past," Danny suggested, definitely sounding more serious than usual.
"Okay, what is with you two," most of the team jumped at Impulse's burst out. "You're being super serious, you were beyond quiet on the bio-ship, Siren made a very dry attempt at a joke. You guys have been off since the briefing. Have you had your mode crashed or something."
The link was silent as everyone waited for a response. After a few seconds, they all heard a sigh over the link.
"Batman told us the Team is being monitored by their mentors on this mission," Danny admitted. "And he 'advises' me that I not do anything to endanger the mission nor the Team."
"WHAT!" most of the Team yelled.
"Ow," White and Danny replied, their ears sensitive even over a telepathic link.
"Sorry... but seriously!Their monitoring us." Cyborg exclaimed.
"Maybe they wish to see how well we interact with one another," Kaldur suggested, trying to be hopeful.
It didn't work very well, Everyone seemed to be thinking for a moment before Superboy interrupted their thoughts.
"Why would Batman think either of you would 'endanger the Team'? You've been on plenty of missions before," he pointed out.
"Yeah well, ever since that Superman incident, the League is having a tough time trusting us," White said. "Now can we please drop the subject? I would like to have one of OUR NORMAL mission conversations for once."
"Fine," Gar gave in. "So… if you do join Krinos on his 'I hate humans' parade, will you at least spare us?"
Even if he had not been on Beta with Siren, everyone knew that he was fuming at the joke. Siren of pure heart doesn't mean siren of no anger.
"Garfield Logan," M'gann warned her adoptive brother.
That didn't seem to work very well.
"If Krinos does eliminate all humans on this earth, can he at least do it by turning us into plants," Tim asked, playing along. "I see myself as a rather good looking pine tree. What about you, Nightwing?"
"I swear…" Danny growled.
"I'd fancy seeing myself as a palm tree," Dick chuckled. "Dropping coconuts on people all day sounds like a good way to live."
"NIGHTWING," M'gann yelled.
There was a lot of laughter coming from the team members. Other than Siren, Phantom, Aqualad, and Superboy.
"I hate you all," both twins say.
Inside the warehouse, Bane and his workers came in. There was a lot of yelling in spanish and machines were powered up. From up in the rafters and on the paths near the ceiling, the four team members inside saw some of the gang members pick flowers from the patch.
"They're collecting the flowers," Dick observed.
"If they're being used for the weapon, they must be poisonous," Tim said. "They could be planning on making a liquid out of them and then using an air release device to hit a populated area."
"Great, now they're bioterrorists," White rolled his eyes.
"They might be going for something bigger, otherwise Batman wouldn't be as worried about this weapon as he seemed,'' Dick says.
''Whatever his type of worried may be,'' Cyborg said.
''Guys, I hear a helicopter coming,'' Conner warned them.
''Me to,'' White agreed.
Soon, a set of helicopters flew overhead. Both copters landed in front of the warehouse.
''Looks like we have company,'' Kaldur told them.
''Great, just great,'' Danny complained, no one having to be on the bio-ship with him to know that he rolled his eyes.
The helicopter doors opened. Phantom's and Siren's eyes both flashed.
''Oh shoot,'' the twins swore.
''What,'' the rest of the team asked.
"We have trouble," the twins responded.
Four figures came out of the helicopters. From the first one was Sportsmaster. And the twins still held a grudge against him from when he blew them up when they first got to this realm. With him was the big blue Hulk himself, Blockbuster. The science experiment gone wrong was most likely there as extra muscle in case the league or team knew what they were up to. Turns out that the Light had good instincts.
Out of the other helicopter came a very unexpected couple. The first was the evil queen of Bialya, Queen Bee. The twins have never met her before, but Siren had a great seeded hatred of her for what she did to Beast Boy's mom. Next was a woman with purple hair. She wore a dark green outfit with a lot of gold lines on it. She gave off a lot of magic energy.
"Looks like we have a newcomer into the Light," Conner informed the team.
"I can feel her power," White added. "She's driving my siren sense into overdrive. Whoever she is, she's strong."
"Nightwing, do you want me and Phantom to go down there," Tim asked.
"Negative," Dick responded. "Stay hidden and be ready if, and when, we call for backup."
"Such a rare find," Queen Bee admired the flowers, picking one.
"You better be sure that they do what they're supposed to," Sportsmaster says. staring at the flower patch.
"These little roses will bring some of the biggest goodie-two-shoes on the planet to their knees," Queen Bee says.
"You ever going to share who you're trying to kill," Sportsmaster asked, crossing his arms.
"All you need to know is that the light has deemed them a threat and these flowers are the only things we've found that can kill them," Queen Bee said. "Have you ever heard about some unexplained happenings in some areas?"
"What are you going on about," Sportsmaster asked, getting annoyed.
"Small or large events that can not be explained," Queen Bee continued. "Like the time a construction crew's machinery got filled with tree snap when they tried to bulldoze a forest in Spain. Or murders where nothing is left of the bodies but scorch marks on the a wall or ground. Maybe even weirder things like people seeming to age fifty years overnight or a person's blood veins seeming to shatter."
"You may have too much time on your hands, doll, if you start noticing things like that in places where you don't even live," Sportsmaster stated.
"They're all connected," Queen Bee says. "In one way or another, they all draw back to the same insufferable beings."
"Oh kiddies," the purple haired woman suddenly called around the warehouse. "I know you're in here. Somewhere."
The team members froze. They were completely silent. How could she have known they were there? Even Impulse, who would most likely have been the one to blow their cover, hadn't made a sound.
"She must be able to sense us," M'gann said. "Like Klarion."
"Try to stay hidden," Dick ordered. "If we don't reveal ourselves, we might be able to keep our cov…"
"LOOK OUT," Cyborg yelled over the link.
A wave of purple energy shot up into the rafters. It caused the the path they were on to be destroyed under their feet. and Cyborg floated to stop from crashing, Cyborg with the jet boosters on his feet. Nightwing landed gracefully on his feet. Impulse was the only one that actually crashed.
"We've been moded," Impulse shouted.
"We're on our way," Kaldur told them.
The four outside all quickly raced to the warehouse. They heard the gunfire of Bane's men as they got closer.
"Siren, I suggest we make an entrance," Gar smirked.
"One siren shriek, coming right up," White stated.
The woman was about to send out another wave of her power. Sportsmaster already had one of his hammer throw things. Blockbuster looked ready to charge. All that stopped when a cry sounded across the warehouse. Worse than a thousand bats screeching at once. Windows shattered, machines went berserk, and all the people in the room clutched their heads in pain.
Behind them was a floating Siren with his mouth open. He loved his shriek almost as much as he loved his scream. When you're constantly fighting villains, you need every advantage you can get.
"Well, if it isn't the songstress himself," Sportsmaster says, after Siren had stopped.
"Hm, a siren," the purple haired woman says, thoughtfully.
Superboy, Aqualad, and Beast Boy then rushed into the warehouse. Superboy charged Blockbuster, punching him in the face. Siren flew off to help him. Aqualad too on Sportsmaster while Beast Boy helped the others with Bane and his goons. The purple haired woman was firing her blasts at and Cyborg. The Bialya queen practically ignored.
Superboy only got a few good punches in before Blockbuster took the reins of their fight. A punch to the clone's face sent Superboy flying back a few yards. He was about to strike again, but a gold bubble formed around him. Blockbuster started punching it nonstop.
"Will that hold," M'gann asked, floating next to Siren.
"To tell the truth, I have no idea," White admitted. "My force fields are meant for keeping people out, not in."
Aqualad was fully engaged in his fight with Sportsmaster. His water swords versus Sportsmaster's hammer throw.
"No monologue or bragging today, Sportsmaster," Kaldur asked.
"You really think i'll spill any secrets just for a little taunting," Sportsmaster says. "You need to learn better interrogation techniques."
He swung his hammer throw toward Aqualad's head. He blocked it by raising his swords and using them to lock the hammer throw in water. He looked over and saw Siren get slammed into by one of the woman's energy blasts, dropping his force field around Blockbuster. The experiment gone wrong once again went after Superboy.
"Phantom, Robin," he called over the link.
"Backup needed, gotcha," Tim responded.
Phantom quickly phased the two through the bio-ship and they bolted to the fight. Robin was the first to rush in, with his staff raised. Swinging it like a bat, he instantly knocked out one of Bane's goons.
"You think the replacement Boy Wonder is proper backup," Sportsmaster sneered from under his hockey mask.
"Well, if it isn't the long lost cousin of Jason Voorhees," Danny dryly commented, appearing above the fight and near the assassin.
It didn't even go unnoticed by the villains that Phantom lacked his usual fun and playful nature. His sarcastic comments lost their life. Siren flew to be next to his twin.
"Someone is using magic here, and it's neither of us," White informed.
"Looking for me, sweetie pies," the twins looked over at the purple haired woman.
Of course it had to be her. They felt stupid for not seeing it right away. She was the only new person here. Queen Bee might like manipulating people, but never getting her hands dirty herself. Sportsmaster wouldn't be caught dead using magic. And Blockbuster wasn't even smart enough to speak, other than growls and roars, let alone use magic.
The woman's hands glowed purple.
"Who are you," Danny asked, getting into a battle position.
"I'm surprised your little siren friend hasn't figured it out by now," she smirked. "You can call me Circe."