Welcome back to The Chimera! Now, onto the reviews.

Death Fury: Glad that you enjoy my work!

Raidentensho: I'm happy that you enjoy my work as well. In response to your questions, Kickin' Hawk is not next on the forms list (He is in fact, not currently planned) but Chimera will learn Caopiera. He will not recreate other anime fighting styles, however (Namely because his anime knowledge at the time consists of 10 episodes of MHA and 4 episodes of Fairy Tail).

Mount Justice

July 22nd, 2010 18:08 EDT

Recognized, Chimera B-0-4

'Today was going to be one of those days' was the first thought that ran through my head when I got a text from Batman that said 'Report to the mission room in uniform ASAP for your first mission.'

The low hummof the generator acts as the only noise filling the hangar. Seeing that nobody's around, I walk straight to the locker room, overhearing something about Batman and Robin's first meeting with Posion Ivy who was holding the city hostage if she didn't get Wayne Enterprises and various other companies to reduce their carbon emissions.

Just as soon the doors close, everybody stops talking and turns to me. I respond with a sheepish "Hey, everyone. How are you?"

A chorus of positivity flows throughout the room as I open my locker and grab my costume (which was moved from its previous place inside a gym bag located in a secret roof panel in a barely used building). Once it's on the bench, I take off my jacket and shirt, exposing my somewhat impressive six pack and muscles gained over three months through diet and training.

Wally, in the process of changing into his Kid Flash costume, asks me "Dude, who wrote your workout regimen?"

"John Stewart did. Not only did he make me eat certain foods to maximize potential growth, he also factored in the effects my combat training has on the regimen so that he could adjust it accordingly."

"Sounds rough."

"Oh, you have no idea." I shiver at the memories of the more extreme parts of training, which was run by- you guessed it - Guy Gardner.

"So, do you have any idea what our first mission's going to be like Zeke?"

I try to see if I can recall anything from my missing chunk of memories and fail, much to my disappointment. "Honestly, I have no idea. I may know a lot of things, but I don't know everything. Only Batman does."

"How does Batman know everything?" A sarcasm blind Connor replies.

"I don't think he actually does know everything, but given the sheer scope of his resources and abilities, it's not unreasonable to think that he knows a lot about a lot."

Not to mention, I helped out whenever I had the sessions with him. To think that the line 'Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, it's Superman!' exists here because Superman used to be at Golden Age levels of power for a year or two.

Seeing as everybody is almost finished with changing into their uniforms, I slip on my uniform's shirt, hoodie and black leather gloves (which I was told to get after the Snowflame incident) before I take off my pants and shoes and replaced them with the costume's pants and the combat boots (which replaced my shoes).

Once I turn around I see a fully clothed Robin, Kid Flash and a reluctant Superboy striking a somewhat triumphant pose. Robin takes the lead and announces "Alright, everybody. Let's head to the mission room. We don't want to keep B waiting any longer."

And with that, I lock my locker and head to the mission room with my fellow heroes. Upon arrival, I see Aqualad ready for action, fully clad in his uniform. Curious, I ask the one thing on my mind: "How are you already here and ready to boot, Kaldur?"

"I work as King Orin's bodyguard on certain days when he needs to deal with Atlantis's relations with the surface world. Today happened to be one of them."

"...May I ask what exactly happened that he required your services as a bodyguard?"

"King Orin is trying to prevent a war over fishing regulations. Again." An expaserated sigh escapes Kaldur's lips as he finishes that last bit. Though in all honesty, I would be annoyed too if I had to bodyguard my king and mentor who is negotiating about fishing regulations over and over again if it meant preventing World War III.

"Enough. You will all have time to discuss whatever's on your mind after the debrief."

I apologize with "Of course, Batman." and Kaldur begins with "My apologies. I will make sure that it will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't. Now then, let us begin."

All of a sudden, a map of an island with one warehouse appears. "Isla Santa Prisca. This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neurosteroid known as Venom." Yikes. I really hope I don't have to save the Team's asses from Bane. All of a sudden, the sole warehouse turns invisible and infrared outlines of people appear. "The infrared heat signatures indicate that their factory is operating at full capacity but all shipments of Venom have inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in. This is a covert recon mission only. Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will."

All of a sudden, the map shifts, and three dots appear: one in the ocean, one on land, and one in the sky. "This mission will require two drop zones: one for dealing with any sensors and one for landing into hostile territory. Any questions?"

"So, who's in charge?" Robin asks.

"Just make sure Chimera does not become the leader."

I raise my hand. "Yes, Chimera?"

"No offense, but why didn't you shut down the factory earlier?"

"Unfortunately, Bane has various officials in his pocket to make sure that the factory is legally registered as a producer of pharmaceuticals. Under League guidelines, we cannot shut down the factory unless we have tangible proof, and despite the CIA's and the Justice League's best efforts-" Batman bristles. "We were not able to find any. Any other questions?"

"I was told that I would be given a suit that generates blue sunlight. Can I ask where it is?" Connor asks.

In lieu of a response, a metallic briefcase is thrown to him.

"...How did you make one so fast?"

"The League asked for Cadmus's spares and modified them after checking for anything that could be harmful to you."

"Huh. Anything I should know about?"

"If you want to take risks with your sudden increase in power, I would suggest you change. However, if you do so, any unjustifiable rash behavior will result in the suit being taken away for missions until you can be deemed trustworthy with it. Got all that?"

"I do." And with that, Connor turns to the locker room to change into a proper uniform. A few minutes later, he comes back wearing an all black jumpsuit with red lines from the collar going down into a diamond shaped shield on the lower chest and around a red Superman sigil with a red line also connecting it to the lower chest shield. Two rectangular patterns on his legs, one on the left and one on the right completes the dignified ensemble.

"So, how do I look?" And with that, Connor unknowingly flexes his muscles much to M'gann's delight and she replies with a somewhat flirtatious "It totally works for you." before she realizes what she said and goes back to normal with "In that, you can totally do good work in that costume", blushing as she finishes.

I smirk and somewhat good heartedly with air quotes ask "And I assume you want to 'work' with him, right M'gann?"

"Uhhhhh…"

And with that, Robin goes "Alright, that's enough, all of you. We have a mission to complete."

"And who made you leader?" Wally asks.

"Everybody, once they see how great I am at being a hero."

"That's not how being a leader works!"

"Says you!"

"Enough bickering. You have a mission to complete. If you have arguments over who will lead the team, have them on the flight there. You have more than enough time to decide." Having gotten the last word, Batman walks to one of the zeta tubes in the hall, programs in his designation and walks in.

Recognized, Batman 0-2

"Well then, let's get on the bioship!" M'gann shouts.

We head to the hangar and M'gann switches the Bioship shifts from its 'sleep mode' to its 'active mode'. As it finishes, the back opens and we all walk to our seats, waiting for the seats to strap us in. Once done, the ship takes off at somewhat faster than jet speeds and I turn my head to everybody else and I announce "Should we decide on a leader now?"

Robin smirks. "We don't need to. I'm gonna be it."

"Fine then. Since you seem so insistent that you'll be Team leader, might I suggest that we put it to a vote?"

A chorus of agreements fill the ship. "All in favor of Robin, say Aye."

The bioship is completely empty except for an "Aw, man!" from our resident Boy Wonder.

"Moving onto my next candidate who I'm recommending for the job based on a combination of his past training and being literally the only other person who can keep us in check besides me: Aqualad. All in favor?"

"Aye/Aye/Aye/Aye" from everybody except the two candidates fill the ship.

"Well then, it's settled. Aqualad is our new leader. Do you have any words for your team?"

"I am honoured that you all think that I am trusted with such a job, and I will make sure that I will fulfill my duties to the Team."

Wal- no, Kid Flash, we're on a mission- being the smart alec he is, goes "We hope so. Somebody has to deal with Batman."

"I was hoping to not have that as a major part of my duties."

"Sucks to be you, my man."

Robin groans, before loudly announcing "We're probably gonna die."

Upon hearing this, I say "We're not gonna die. We're too powerful to die against a bunch of overthrown drug lords."

"Yeah, you're right. But I feel like there's something else going on."

"Relax, Rob. Everything will reveal itself in due time. Now, I'm gonna try and take a nap for a bit. Wake me up when we get close."

"Right. We'll see you there."

I overhear some more bits of conversation about Aqualad's duties and our expectations from it before I fall asleep, fuelled by the vibrations of the engines.

Carribbean Sea

July 22nd, 2010 20:08 ECT

A brief tremor crosses my body as I open my eyes, taking in the wonderful coastline that is Santa Prisca.

"Now approaching Santa Prisca." from M'gann fills the bioship before "Drop Zone A in 30." replaces the empty silence left in the cockpit.

Aqualad stands up as the chair slowly shapeshifts out of existence, followed by him pressing his logo. His costume shifts to a black costume with grey accents. A "Ready." from him becomes all he needs to tell us to open the gate.

"Putting bioship in camoflague mode."

A hole in the ground opens up, and he falls through it to land into the ocean water that is Santa Prisca's coast. Shortly after, "Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. You are ready to move in." comes through the communicators.

The bioship moves closer, and a hole opens up in the floor. The seats retract as Miss Martian makes a motion which summons lines from the roof. Robin, Kid Flash and I attach them to ourselves and we all press the logos on our costumes. All the colors turn to different shades of black from the logo onwards.

"How's this?" Kid Flash asks in a tone of voice indicating he only wants Miss Martian answer and gets a "Very impressive" as a response.

Just as she finishes that, M'gann's clothes change into a black bodysuit with a red X across the chest and a blue cape with hood.

"Uh, that works too."

"I'll take that as my cue to commence my magical girl transformation sequence." I hit the logo on my chest and a wave of dull greens appear, turning my costume into something a movie superhero would wear. The hoodie itself goes from a vibrant green to an almost metallic shade of green and the pants go into a black camoflauge pattern.

"Wow, that looks more impressive than mine, Chi."

"Thank you. Wait-Chi?"

"It's a nickname. Do you hate it?"

"No, I don't. It just took me by suprise."

"Oh. That makes sense." With that, Kid Flash turns to Superboy "Hey Supes, you gonna put on your stealth tech."

"Don't need to. There's not much difference."

"Ah. If that's what you want."

Seeing that as our cue, Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian and I land quietly whereas Superboy lands with a bit of a thud besides us. He smirks and proudly tells us "Knew I didn't need a line."

"And yet, making a seismic event may not have helped us much with the covert." Robin grumbles.

Miss Martian moves her hand to her ear and annouces "Aqualad, Drop Zone B has landed."

"Understood. Head to the factory. I'll track your location through GPS and meet you ASAP."

"Roger that." Robin announces. A hologram of the island appears from his glove and a red dotted pattern appears showing us the path to the factory before it disappears.

Partway through the journey, I grumble "Bet Aqualad doesn't have to deal with this."

"Well, Aqualad did dive into the water." Robin replies. "Why didn't you join him?"

"For two reasons: One, I can swim to the point where I'll survive. Anything beyond that is a no go. Two, I don't have a form that breathes underwater."

"...Oceania can breathe underwater, as you demonstrated when you fought Marine Maurauder's army of mutated fish life."

I blink for a bit, somewhat embarrassed that I forgot some of my own form's powers. "Oh."

"You forgot?"

"I forgot."

We continue to follow Robin as he passes through the forest, jumping across branches and walking alongside a waterfall before we stop due to Superboy asking "Did you hear that?"

"Didn't hear anything. Your senses are leagues better than ours, remember?" I remind him.

"You do have great ears." Miss Martian flirtaceously compliments, only to get ignored.

"Right. My limits are still the same, by the way. Guess the blue sunlight didn't work as well as you thought it would." Superboy spitefully remarks.

"Okay, One: Blue sunlight removing your limiters is based on a theory involving different colored stars each having their own effects on Kryptonians based on how red sunlight depowers Superman and yellow empowers him. Two: you've only been exposed to blue sunlight for a few hours at most, so changes are going to take a while to appear. Three: you're half-human, so it might affect you slower than a full Kryptonian."

Superboy ponders it over. "That explains a lot."

Before we can further discuss the topic, Aqualad's voice blares on the communication systems. "Kid, Superboy, switch to Infrared to see if you and your allies are being tracked."

Superboy and Kid Flash does so and Kid points out some footprints. "Got a squad of armed bozos incoming."

We all duck and hide behind the foliage. Superboy looks at us and goes "Two squads. But they'll meet each other before they'll meet us."

The sound of what I assume is laser weaponry fills the air before Kid Flash comments "No superhearing required now."

Aqualad chimes in with "Swing wide, Steer clear." to which Robin replies "Don't be so feisty, Aqualad. We got this."

And with that, he vanishes presumably to the fight and I decide to join him. I dial in Aperachnid-The new name for Spidermonkey after I discussed it with Robin-and once I transform, I aim my tail at several mooks on both sides and fire globs of webbing at their eyes. Once done, I punch the living daylights out of several of the minions and Robin does some fancy judo moves and throws some birdarangs to finish off all but one of the mooks, who is then tased by Aqualad into unconsciousness.

"Impressive." Aqualad complements us. "I did not expect you to be so effective in unarmed combat, Chimera."

"You do realize that John Stewart, an ex-Marine, is one of the lanterns who trained me, right?"

"The knowledge of that slipped my mind."

A whiny "Can we please tie up the goons here so that we can interrogate them?" from Robin interrupts our conversation.

"You got it." I generate a bunch of Arachnichimp silk from my tail and through some deft movements, I tie up all the mooks and a suprisingly concussed Bane around trees, restraining them so well that they cannot escape unless somebody were to come over with a blowtorch and burn all the webs off and even then it would take hours for any noticable effect to happen. Alternatively, they could wait, but since the variant of Arachnichimp silk that I'm producing takes hours to degrade according to my instincts, they'll do nothing to us once they get free.

Robin takes a look at the group tied to the left of us and motions to tell us something. "I recognize those uniforms. They belong to the Cult of the Kobra."

Kobra? Fuck. Of all the shady terrorist organizations that had to take over the Venom trade, it had to be the one I knew least about. I only know about how they managed to get Wally-Prime to discover the Speed Force and their 'Depopulate-Earth-and-repopulate-it-with-lizard-men plot' from the DCAU. Hopefully it won't bite me in the butt too much.

I get distracted from my musings as I hear Aqualad point out "I am certain that Batman would have mentioned it if he knew dangerous extremists are running Santa Prisca's Venom operation."

"Agreed. And since there's no love lost between the cultists and these goons," Robin does the classic thinker pose "I'm betting they came in and tossed them out. That'swhy normal supply routes have been cut off."

"We get it. Kobra wanted super cultists. Radio Bats and we'll be home in time for-" Kid Flash states confidently before getting interrupted.

The beep beep beep and the red flash of the Omnitrix fills the air as I put in my two cents. "There's something else going on here. We should find out what it is before we make any rash decisions."

An accented voice in a mocking tone fills the air. "Such clever niños. But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest. I can get you into the factory using my secret entrance."

Miss Martian does the stereotypical telepath pose before responding "There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something." Her eyes glow white and her tone of voice sours as she attempts to read the deeper recesses of Bane's mind.

"Ah, ah, ah, chica. Bane is not that easy."

"Ohhh. He's mentally reciting fútbolscores en español. This could take a while."

A smirk crosses Bane's face. "It's not complicated. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

I turn to my partners in vigilantism and ask them quietly "Do you think we can trust him?"

Robin points out the obvious. "On one hand, he'll probably backstab us. On the other hand, he's the best choice we got."

Kid then states his thoughts. "If we get Bane's help, we'll get some muscle."

Aqualad voices his concerns. "But there is a risk to the mission with or without his help."

"Look," I put my hands in the air "We need to decide now. All in favor?" Four hands raise themselves in the air. "All opposed?" Robin and Aqulad raise their hands.

"Then it's decided. We get Bane's help."

"Wise choice, los vigilantes. Untie me and I will help you get inside the factory."

Aqualad takes charge. "Superboy, see if you can use your heat vision to get Bane out of the webbing."

Much to our surprise, Superboy's eyes glow red and two red beams shoot out to Bane's cocoon. "Hold still, this is my first time doing this."

Sarcasm fills Bane's voice. "That's reassuring."

A small fire breaks out, burning Bane's tank top and skin. "Vete a la mierda! Have you no control over your heat vision?!"

"No? I only just got it."

"Then why did you use it!?"

"It was either to burn you or rip off your clothes and possibly skin. I took the less riskier option."

As Bane starts taking us to the factory, a smirk crosses my face. "Not to mention, you wanted to test your supersuit, didn't you?"

"Yes. It works, but the progress is slow."

"Give it time. It's only been-" I check the Omnitrix's digital clock (Yes, it has one) "About two hours since you put it on. Maybe more, because for some weird reason this clock has an automatic time zone sync function that for the life of me I cannot disable."

"You forgot to turn it off, didn't you?"

I chuckle awkwardly. "Who, me? No. I didn't turn it off because I gave up finding the date and time settings. Seriously, there's settings for an internet hotspot on this thing among other functions of varying utility."

"Why is there an internet hotspot?"

"Maybe it's something that got added at the last minute? I don't know. I don't understand the mind of Azmuth."

"If you children are done arguing, we have arrived at mi fábrica."

Bane stops about a few feet from the edge and points to the factory. Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy move closer to the edge to get a better look with Robin using his binoculars, Kid using his goggles and Supes using his supervision.

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

"-We need to identify that buyer." Aqualad finishes.

"But first, we need to enter the factory." I point out.

A few grunts come from Bane. Turning around, I see him lift a giant rock that once moved, reveals a mineshaft. "The entrance is this way."

We walk down the tunnel, eventually reaching a metal door with a fingerprint scanner. Bane puts his finger on the scanner, and the door opens. Bane moves the door somewhat open, allowing Robin to peek through.

"All clear." are the two words he says before we enter the factory. However, once there, we find out that Robin has disappeared.

"Has that little fool already been captured?" Bane annoyingly questions.

"No," Aqualad responds. "He just does that. Kid Flash, see if you can find Robin."

"On it!" He says as he zooms away.

"Now then," I take over the lead from Aqualad "we need to check to see what exactly is going on here. Everybody, blend into the shadows."

The team members (including myself) find an unused assembly line and hide behind it, whereas Bane hides in the shadows of a crate tower.

"It's a massive shipment."

"Yeah, but they're only taking new product off the line. They're not touching this Venom?" Superboy notices.

"Maybe freshness counts?" Miss Martian asks.

I stroke my chin. "No, that doesn't make any sense. Steroids such as Venom should have a long shelf life, so there's something else going on here. Maybe a variant of Venom that required specific resources to make?"

Superboy answers my question with "That explains the weird smell. Those boxes have a smell of Venom mixed with something else."

Aqualad puts his fingers on his chin. "That does make sense."

Any further discussion is interrupted with Superboy looking at the direction we came from and going "Helicopter's coming."

"Well, shit." I summarize before I activate the communicators "Robin, Kid, report! We've got-" Static fills my ears "static."

"So comms are jammed. Miss Martian, can you connect all of us telepatically?"

"You got it, Aqualad." Miss Martian puts her hands on her forehead and asks everybody telepathically Everybody online?

Yeah. A growling Superboy responds.

Kid Flash confirms with You know it, beautiful.

I send Connected, over!

Robin responds with A bit busy right now!

Good to hear everybody's online. Aqualad responds Now, Miss Martian, can you cloak and send me an image of the buyer?

As he finishes that, Miss Martian just vanishes from visible sight and the sounds of a door opening and closing quietly hits my ears.

"Such an interesante girl."

"Glad you feel that way, El Tigre."

A confused "El Tigre?" comes from Bane.

"It's a reference." I smirk. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find Robin and KF." Hey, Boisterous Brosome, where are you two?

Robin tells us I'm in the command center. Why do you ask?

Comms are jammed, and there's something going on with the Venom production and distribution that's raising some red flags with the whole shebang. I summarize.

What kind of red flags?

There's something mixed in with the recently made Venom.

Alright, I'm at the command center. Kid replies. Got anything, Rob?

Just chemical formulas.

As if he's speaking to a child, Kid goes This one's Venom. This one's- Kid's thoughts transmit a bit of shock, which worries me. Whoa. The Blockbuster formula from Cadmus. Rob, can you see what would happen if the two mix?

We wait for a bit before Kid goes Mixed correctly, Kobra's new juice is three times stronger than Venom...and permanent. Kid finishes horrified. But how did Kobra get access to Project Blockbuster?

Our mystery buyer must be Kobra's supplier! Robin realizes. Using the cult to create the Blockbuster-Venom formula.

I'm sending all of you a telepathic image of the buyer right now. Miss Martian informs us before a brief flash of light shines through my eyes. A image of a tall white guy with blonde hair in hockey gear just shows up, as if I'm actually flying above the ground looking at his face.

"Sportsmaster? He is the buyer?" Aqualad rhetorically asks.

"I'm assuming Sportsmaster is a dangerous opponent?" I muse.

"He is a known high ranking member of the League of Shadows with a nearly perfect record for assignments given to him."

Hmmmmm. Seems like this universe likes to take wimps and turn them to massive badasses. I stillremember how I nearly lost to Slipknot of all people!

"That sounds bad. We need a distraction."

Before anybody can do anything, Bane goes "I have one." and just jumps off the catwalk, punching all the Kobra goons like there's no tomorrow.

I shrug my shoulders. "Not what I was expecting, but that works."

Suddenly, the windows break open and this huge red haired mass of muscle lands on the floor. "Nevermind."

A smooth, stereoypically evil voice goes "Destroy them." and suddenly everything goes to hell. Superboy does the traditional rapid fire punches, and the excessive muscles guy just shrugs most of them like they're mild bullet stings. Superboy ducks under muscles' legs and hits him in the back.

Meanwhile, I turn into Shockhenge, jump right down to the battleground and channel my inner otaku by yelling "INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK: 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!" before a huge surge of blue electricity spreads all across the floor, knocking out pretty much everybody except for Superboy, (possibly) Bane, Mammoth and myself.

Why were you acting like a fucking shonen protagonist? Kid telepathically asks me.

Because the move I used was based off of a shonen?

Mind telling me what it is?

I would, but it doesn't exist in this universe right now nor can I recall the name of the writer.

As much as I enjoy hearing you two talk, Superboy begins, we have a mission to complete.

Right. Sorry.

As we continue fighting, the doors open by two men being thrown into them. As more men get suddenly thrown, A shink! followed by an explosion takes Miss Martian out of the fight.

Before more goons join the firefight, Kid Flash and Robin show up, with Kid taking out two men by jumping onto their chests and Robin throwing several birdarangs at the guns.

Seeing that we're not really doing much against the army, I yell inside my head Miss Martian! Wake up! and I hear a groggy What do you want? as a response.

Good. Now that you're awake, I can do this.

Do what?

RETREAT!

Suddenly, everybody in the team moves (except for Aqualad, who's carried by Superboy) from attacking to merely returning the way we came. Any Kobra grunts in the war are merely pushed to the side by a speeding Kid Flash as we (counting Bane, who seems to notice us retreating) enter the tunnel some Kobra grunts follow us and start shooting. Before they get lucky, I make two swords out of my energy and chop up the support beams, causing an avalanche.

Once we manage to move a safe distance from the factory, I generate a small shock from my fingers to wake up Aqualad before I hit the dial to detransform. Aqualad rubs the back of his head, groaning before he gets a red glow stick and breaks it in half.

"How did our first mission go so wrong?" Robin asks.

I respond with "It's because it's our first mission. We haven't nailed down the team dynamics, there are massive gaps of experience between all of us, we entered hostile territory without a plan, we joined forces with somebody who would and did backstab us if given the chance, and we didn't coordinate much. If this mission was more critical, I'd say we did a shit job, but given the relatively low risks, we did OK. Not everything's gonna be perfect, especially with a new group."

"...You're speaking from experience, aren't you?"

"Somewhat. I had a Spanish Group Project in eleventh grade that went so wrong, I wrote a thousand word essay about it in college."

"There's a interesting story behind that group project, isn't there?"

"Yep! I'll tell you all about it once we're done here."

"So now what? We're stuck here and we need to destroy the Kobra Venom shipment."

"Here's what I'm thinking: we prevent the chopper fron taking off, destroy every single drop of Viper (because Kobra Venom and Venom Buster are dumb names), and arrest everybody we can."

"Funny, I already sabotaged the copter. It'll take them about half an hour to fix the engines."

"Well done!" I compliment.

"Thanks!"

"Let us not waste any more time. We have a mission to complete." Aqualad points out.

A few minutes pass before Robin speaks up. "Y'know, Sportsmaster is 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."

Kid Flash supports the argument with "And neither of them have the chops to bond Blockbuster with Venom. That took some serious nerdage."

"I believe the expression is 'Tip of the iceberg.'" Aqualad states.

As we reach the exit, Bane stands forward with a glowing green stick. "Halt, niños. I'm feeling...explosive." Looking up, we see a bunch of C4 placed around the support beams in a way that would kill anybody inside the tunnels.

Naturally, the first thing I do is facepalm and groan. I mutter "Knew Bane helping us was too good to be true." before telepathically going Kid, take the detonator from El Luchador.

Got it! And with a streak of yellow and red, Kid disarms Bane before the latter can react. Despite Bane moving to punch Kid Flash, a streak of red and black moves in front of Kid, and Bane breaks all of the bones in his hand.

"Finally." Superboy smirks after seeing the display. Miss Martian lifts him up with telekinesis, only for Superboy to tell her "Drop him." She does so, and a small Bane-sized crater is made.

"So now what?"

"We need to destroy every single drop of Viper, obviously. Fortunately, our resident Judas here gave us a method to do so." I motion to the C4. "Can somebody pick up the C4? I've got a plan." I smirk. "And it's gonna be great!"

Kid points at me. "So, what's the plan bossman?"

"We use the C4 to blow up the helicopter, destroying most of, if not all, of the Viper shipment. If everything goes right, then the factory'll get caught in the blast and blow up as well without anybody dying in the explosion. Any objections?"

Aqualad frowns. "It sounds risky."

"All the best plans have risks. As I'm sure you know by now what with your military training."

"That is true." A few seconds pass before Aqualad speaks up with "I accept your proposition."

"Glad to hear it! Miss Martian?"

"On it!" Her eyes glow white as the C4 falls safely to the ground from where they were previously located.

"OK Kid, I'm gonna need you to carry the C4."

"Why me?"

"Because you're going to put the C4 on the helicopter while we attack Sportsmaster and Kobra. Once you do so, join the fight."

"Sweet."

"Anything else?" I ask, and I get a chorus of approvals at the current plan. "Good. Now, let's begin."

We steathily make our way to the factory from the outside and we see a female goon head up to Sportsmaster and Lord Kobra. "The helicopter is operationial, exhaulted one."

Kid, get ready to place the C4s.

I was born ready.

On my signal, everybody attack as a distraction. Got all that?

Yeah, we get it.

In the background, I hear Sportsmaster snarl "How long until we're done here?"

"Only a few more minutes."

"A few minutes too many, if you ask me."

Now! Suddenly, out of the shadows, Superboy and Miss Martian appear, with Superboy punching anybody he can and Miss Martian lifting the unconscious bodies and hitting others with them.

Robin, meanwhile, is giggling while running outside of everybody's field of vision, before he throws an exploding discus. When it hit something and blew up, he appeared in the middle of the battlefield with a staff in hand, already fighting off whoever he could.

With a deft motion, Aqualad summoned a wave of water to hit Muscle Boy (Is he Mammoth?) before he touches the wave. With his tattoos glowing, he generates a surge of electricity that stops Muscle Boy dead in his tracks for a bit

While everybody else fights, Kid here sneaks up to the helicopter and places C4 all across the helicopter.

And as for me? I dial in Xenowulf, push the core down, and jump right in front of Sportsmaster. "So, you're Jason Voorhees. Thought you'll be a bit of a challenge."

"And you're The Chimera. I was told that I'd get a bonus for securing the device around your wrist. Hope you're ready for a world of hu-RraagH!" As Sportsmaster moves to grab something, I bite his right arm in the shoulder before unleashing a sonic howl close to his ears.

Blood comes visibly dripping from his ears as he yells at me. "Would it be a little too much to ask you to take it down a notch?!"

"Yes." And with that, I blast him with another sonic howl before kicking him in the face.

"Heh. Thought this was gonna be a cakewalk, but now it's fun." And with that, Sportsmaster presumably smirks underneath his hockey mask.

I slash him with my claws twice before Judo flipping him and unleashing another sonic howl. Unlike the others, I keep this howl up long and loud enough to make sure that Sportsmaster is stunned.

Kid, Blow up the C4s and help me deal with Jason Voorhees over here.

I'll help but why are you calling Sportsmaster Jason Voorhees?

I didn't want to go with Casey Jones. It seemed to be an obvious joke to make.

Ah.

...I'm surprised you got the two references.

Eh, TMNT is a popular movie series. In fact-

Whatever. Just hurry up and blow this joint up.

As soon as I think that, an explosion completely encases the helicopter, destroying the Viper samples on it before the blast waves hit the factory and damage a good chunk of it, with parts falling onto the ground and machines blowing up. The blast waves also stagger Sportsmaster which Kid Flash takes advantage of to come up and rapidly punch Sportsmaster as he stands up.

Sportsmaster mutters "Damn you…" before he falls unconscious and lands on the ground.

Alright, Sportsmaster is unconscious and the helicopter is blown up. Anybody need help?

I'm gonna need help over here! A frustrated Robin thinks.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but can you please yell so I can find you?

Can't you track me by scent?

I sniff before replying Your scent is all over the place because guess what, you sabotaged a helicopter that just blew up! And besides, I'm not that good at identifying the age of certain scents. So, if you want my help, scream.

Fine, I'll do it! But you owe me!

Spoken like a true bat.

An earpiecing shriek fills the air, stunning everybody as they process that Robin did that. In the time it takes for everybody else to process it, I jump to Robin fighting Lord Kobra and slash him across the face before I pounce on him.

"Y'know, I was expecting a challenge from Sportsmaster," I boast, "but I think you'll be a better fit. Either way, I need something to make this a good night."

"Do not assume that I would be threatened by hollow boasts."

"It's not a hollow boast if it's true." Seriously, I was expecting more of a fight. If Sportsmaster really lived up to his reputation, then he would've decked himself out in more impressive gear than what he brought with him. Note to self: Ask anybody about his unusual behaviour.

"Come at me, child." Kobra spits out narcissictially.

"I'm 18, you idiot." I tell him before pointing out "You do realize I have you pinned, right?"

"That is of no concern to me."

Suddenly, a redhaired chick with a half mohawk for hair and a Kobra tattoo on the shaved bit comes up, wearing black pants and a blue top connected to black gloves comes up and punches me in the face. I rub my jaw and go "Finally, a worthy opponent! Our battle will be legendary!"

Was that another one of your references? Miss Martian asks.

Yes. Now, if you excuse me, I'm fighting a crazy criminal worshipper.

Before I can do any further telepathic snarking, I launch a sonic howl to stun Mohwak before I hit the dial to turn into Greenhouse. Once done, I grab some seeds and I throw them on the ground before 'ordering' them to accelerate their growth. All of a sudden, vines burst from the ground, entangling Mohawk in them. Once I walk up to her, I touch her nose and go "Boop!" before knocking her out with a blast of methane from my wrist.

Once I check to make sure that the fights are over, I detransform before going Alright, Mohawk's down. Status report, Aqualad?

The Flinders siblings and Sportsmaster have been captured, though Kobra escaped. The factory is destroyed, halting Venom production for months at the very least, a year and a half at the latest. Aqualad reports.

Robin? Do you have anything to report?

I got some files from the computer, but I'm not sure if they'll shut down the factory for good. They're just some finances dealing with logistics of transporting drugs.

As long as it delays the Venom trade, Bats'll be happy. Miss Martian, can you summon the bioship?

Sure, but shouldn't we leave the criminals with the police?

No. If I had to hazard a guess, this area's policed by the military, and given the corruption with the factory, chances are they're corrupt as well. We should head to the nearest base and make sure that they're legitimate before turning in the three stooges and their minions.

While I understand your concerns, Aqualad begins, We do not need to do a telepathic scan. According to the unabridged mission briefing -which you have not read-, Santa Prisca has some untouched military officers and a CIA Office.

There's a CIA Base in Santa Prisca?

Of course. As Isla Santa Prisca is US Territory rampant with corruption, the United States has set up a small CIA base to monitor ongoing criminal activity when it comes to their interests.

You got the coordinates?

I do, in fact. Suddenly, numbers just pop into my brain. Miss Martian, can you pilot the Bioship here?

Of course. Suddenly, a whoosing sound comes from above before a transparent oval shape appears just above the burning heap of chemicals and metal that used to be a factory. A slight shimmer occurs before the Bioship decloaks. "Everybody aboard!"

Miss Martian shouts.

We all walk up to our seats in the Bioship without a worry on our shoulders (Except for Superboy, who's carrying the aforementioned three stooges). Once we sit down and make sure to improvise a prison cell in the back seat, I turn to Superboy and ask him, "So, how are you feeling?"

Superboy smirks. "Like I could take on the world."

My cheerful mood becomes a bit more somber as I go from 'friend' to 'older brother'. "Yeah, I think I know the feeling. You think that nobody can stop you, and as such, you feel almighty and on top of the world. But sooner or later, somebody will come up and knock you down a peg."

"Really?" Superboy asks, incredulous to my statement.

"Really. I learned that the hard way with Major Disaster. His weather manipulation abilites proved to be a major counter for me to deal with. In the end, I had to turn into Solarion to end the fight, given that his weather control was so great that he could summon acid rain to dissolve Aperachnid's webs. Now, you might be thinking why didn't I use Oceania to wash away whatever he could cook up. Answer: Major Disaster could just use a class 5 hurricane to blow away the water."

"Seems kind of hard to believe that you lost to a common thug."

"Look, Superboy, take it from me. Everybody can lose to common thugs if the thugs are powerful, skilled or prepared. If you don't learn how to fight smart with your powers, then you'll lose more than you'll win."

Superboy thinks it over for a bit before going "I'll think about fighting smart with my powers, whatever that means."

"Good. It may not be the easiest thing you've done, but it'll be worth it."

As if it hurts him to say it, Superboy goes "Can you help me?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Can you help me fight smart?"

"Sure! Just let me know when you'll want to start."

Aqualad speaks up. "While I enjoy this conversation between the two of you, I would like to inform you all that we have arrived at the CIA base. Superboy, could you please carry our three captives to the front of the agency and wait there to make sure they won't escape?"

"Sure." With that, Superboy walks to the back and carries the three out in front of the base. After twenty minutes, he comes back and announces "So it turns out, Sportsmaster has a sample of Viper on him, which will soon be turned into STAR Lab's biochemistry division. In addition, he has what I think is tinnitus thanks to Chimera here, but I'm not sure of it because it's based on what I got from his reactions."

All eyes turn to me as I go "Oops?"

"'Oops' is not the word I would use for this situation, but I think it is more than appropriate." Aqualad bickers at me with sarcasm.

"So, with that out of the way, are we ready to fly home free?" I ask, looking for a change of topics.

"Yes we are!" Miss Martian announces as we take to the skies to reach Mount Justice.

It's about half an hour into our flight before Kaldur (No need to use codenames in the privacy of our Bioship flying over the skies after a successful mission) goes "Everybody, I have an announcement to make."

"What is it, Kaldur?" Wally asks.

"I have decided to make Ezekial- Chimera -my second in command for missions." Kaldur announces to the surprise of everybody, including me.

"Why?" Robin asks.

"His cool head in battle and wisdom when it comes to superhero fights is invaluable and would be of use to everybody here."

"You just want to share the suffering with somebody, don't you?" Wally teases.

"That too."

I sigh before going "Well, I hope to live up to your standards as Team second in command."

"If I did not think you were capable of handling the task, I would have given the role to Robin."

"Thank you, Kaldur. That means a lot to me." And it really does! Only a few months of experience and I'm considered for second in command over Robin.

"I understand."

Curiosity overcomes me as I snark "I'm not sure you do." before I question "Why choose me for second in command and not Robin?"

"In my eyes, Robin is too experienced to handle leading a team. He needs to know that not everybody is capable of working with others as fluidly as he does with Batman."

Robin shouts "I'm capable of working in a team, no matter the lineup!"

Wally dissolves Robin's ego with "Dude. You left the infiltration team to hack the computers, you sabotaged the helicopter, and you ran off after Lord Kobra. If we didn't find you or if you weren't so skilled, it's safe to say you could've died."

M'gann speaks up. "Zeke here taught me that cooperation is key when you're a superhero and yet you repeatedly broke that rule."

"Okay, I get it! I'm too impulsive and habitual to be somewhat effective in a mission."

"Glad to see that you're self-aware of your flaws." I joke.

"Helps when you've been at this game since you were eight."

"Who in their right minds would let an eight year old be a sidekick to a superhero in one of the most crime filled cities in America?"

"Batman?" Wally incorrectly guesses.

"Batman has shown enough concerning behaviours to me that I can reliably say that he is mentally ill. I cannot guess what he's ill with, just that he's mentally ill." And given the fact that Bruce has gone through some things (no kid should see their parents die in front of them), it's likely to say he's somewhat disturbed.

Just as I finish saying that, the room quiets due to me inadveratedly killing all conversation as everybody else reanalyzes everything they know about Batman.

It's only two and a half hours later before M'gann informs us "Arriving at Mount Justice in T-10 minutes. Make sure to get ready to disembark."

A few minutes after that, the Bioship lands in the hangar quietly and we all walk to the locker rooms. We quickly go from 'superhero' to 'civilian' in a few minutes with barely a word spoken, likely due to the mission tiring us out. Before I head to the hangar Zeta Tubes, I feel a hand grab my shoulder. Turning to look, I see Kaldur with a look screaming 'we-need-to-have-a-leader-to-leader-talk'. Motioning for him to continue, I see that he's telling me to follow him without saying a word.

Walking right next to Kaldur, I see him head to a closet. He opens the door and motions for me to enter, which I do. Of course, once I realized what just happened, I immediately told him "Next time, make sure that you find the secret room used for meetings instead of using a closet. I do not want Robin walking in and getting the wrong ideas about our love lives."

Concern appears on my fellow leader's face. "Perhaps I should have thought this through." The concern disappears to be replaced by professionalism. "As I intended to ask you, shall we collaborate on our mission reports? I feel that it could be useful as a time saving method."

I think it over before replying with "Personally, I'm mixed on the matter. On one hand, less work. On the other, it's just overly simplified without any nuances that could be seen as problems and addressed. It all depends on you, really."

"How exactly would collaborating on the mission reports cause problems?"

"Well, I'm not sure if Connor and M'gann have written anything in english outside of whatever practice exercises they're given, Wally looks like he'll just write a few sentences and Robin looks like he'll write too much, if you know what I mean. Best to have them learn writing skills from writing their own mission reports."

"So, your reasonings against collaborating on mission reports boils down to 'Use it as a teaching experience'."

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Well then, I'll make an announcement on the group chat later. Goodnight, Zeke."

"Goodnight, Kaldur."

And with that, I head to the Zeta Beams to Zeta home for a well deserved shower and rest after I file my post mission report.

Mount Justice

July 23, 2010 9:58 EDT

Apparently, within 10 minutes of me waking up, Batman has called an emergency meeting over the mission reports, requesting everybody to be at the cave at 10 AM EDT. Fortunately, I wake up at 6:30 Pacific, so that's not really a problem for me. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but thank god for Batman knowing my sleep schedule.

As I Zeta into the cave (This time using the mission room tubes), I take note that everybody is already standing side by side in their civvies, presumably waiting for Batman. As I stand in position, I hear Recognized, Batman 0-2

He steps in front of us and nods. "Good, everybody's here. I will be going over the mission."

Within a few seconds, he starts pacing. "Robin, don't force leadership upon yourself. A leader needs understanding and trust, not skill and ego. In addition, make sure to tell others what you're planning. Your lack of communication could have resulted in your death when splitting away from your team.

Superboy, when using your blue sunlight suit, do not inform the enemy about your skill with your powers nor how powerful you are. Your lack of skill could have resulted in your opponents killing you if they can take on Superman.

Chimera, please inform your allies when they are within range of your attacks. In addition, when fighting your opponents, make sure to not cause permanent harm. Sportsmaster has been diagnosed with tinnitus and is at risk for having one of his arms amputated thanks to you biting it." Christ, I was that hard on Sportsmaster? Was he not prepared for me whatsoever? Or did I somehow get the jump on him?

"Miss Martian, when your allies tell you to do something, make sure to do as they say. Hesitation is the difference between life and death, success and failure.

Kid Flash, when you notice something off place, do not assume that it is the only thing wrong with the situation. An overturned stone can be the clue that ends the case.

And as for the mission itself, you had one job. A simple recon mission." Batman walks up to Aqualad and yells "Observe and report!" before backing off. "You'll each receive written evaluations detailing your many mistakes." We all nod down in shame before "Until then- Good job." causes us to look at him like puppies expecting compassion. "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy." Seeing that he's congratulating us, we all cheer up so much. "How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success and how you choose who leads determines character."

With that, we all cheer. Everybody in the Team turns to Kaldur and I. Wally's the first one to speak up. "You guys are the greatest. Who knows what could have happened if you didn't lead us."

Robin continues with the pseudo celebration. "Yeah, you turned the disaster into a aster."

"You all turned out to be the best of us!" M'gann cheers.

As I hear the congratulations continue to pour in, I can't help but wonder just what happened to Sportsmaster and his bosses.

?

July 23, 2010 ?

Vandal Savage looks at the latest reports from Santa Prisca and growls. "I knew Sportsmaster had a bit of an ego problem, but for him to disregard our warnings to prepare against Chimera takes it to another level."

Ra's al Ghul turns to look at Vandal. "Forgive my concerns, but what transpired?"

"Because he disregarded our warnings, he got himself captured, had all the Kobra Venom in the shipment destroyed except for one vial, which is in the hands of STAR Labs, and got inflicted with Tinnitus."

A sigh escapes Ra's al Ghul's lips. "I expected better from him, given his track record. Fortunately, I have another, more dangerous Shadow willing to listen to warnings lined up to act as a replacement for Sportsmaster. In addition, I'll create a divison of the Shadows whose sole purpose is to act as backup for members waylaid by the Chimera."

"See that you do that. Now, any other concerns?"

A cultured voice belonging to Lex Luthor speaks up. "What about the Kobra Venom? It's a required component of Operation Oz."

A synthetic voice with a french accent chimes in. "Fret not, mes alliés. I have a collègue who has a remplacement. All he requires is funding and testing."

Vandal feels a bit of hope (for lack of a better word) coming up. "Really?"

"Really, Monsieur Sauvage. His name is Doctor Samuel Register, a notable docteur in genetics who was ridiculed for his théories."

"See if he's willing to accept funding from us. I have a feeling his investment will pay off."

"Of course."

"What about the children?" A haughty female voice asks in a tone that demands answers.

In a tone growing darker by the word, Vandal responds. "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. But three times is enemy action, and enemies of the Light cannot stand."

A/N: Check Superboy redesign by Klavious5 on Deviantart for Superboy's uniform.