Sylvia Wayne "Wildcat"

Santa Prisca

July 22nd, 2010

As I sat in uniform next to Kid Flash in the Bioship, I braided my high ponytail, ensuring my long black hair was secured. I felt weird in the new uniform. After Cadmus and my head bashing experience with Mr. Twister, my father commissioned a better, more secure costume for when he's not there to help me. The fabric of this one was stronger, while still lighter than the other one. The red slash marks on my chest were now gold, matching my utility belt and instead of just hugging my neck, the suit connected with a cowl. My eyes feline eyes weren't concealed, like in my father's cowl, but I had cat ears atop my head similar to his bat ears and the expression was a little less angry than Batman's. There was a hole, high on the back of my head for me to pull a ponytail through. The rest of it was exactly the same with the black gloves and boots, the glove still perfectly formed to the tips of my fingers with slits so I could still use my claws without ripping the suit. So I sat, fidgeting with my hair as we flew.

"We're approaching Santa Prisca." M'gann announced as we flew. The sun had already set, and the clouds and stars were a bit mesmerizing as I reflected on Batman's brief of the mission.

The Cave

Earlier that day

"Isla Santa Prisca." Batman introduced as he pulled up all of the necessary data and information for the mission he was about to assign. "This island nation is the primary source Of a dangerous and illegal neo-steroid: a strength enhancing drug sold under the street name Venom. Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory Is still operating at full capacity, But all shipments of Venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in." Batman explains as he looks at each and every one of 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." Batman continued, but Robin used the pause in the speech to ask what we were all wondering.

"So who's in charge?" He voiced, everyone looking from him to Batman in expectancy. Wally nudged my side while smirking. Probably thinking it was going to be me, or maybe he had the daft idea that he would be the Team's leader. Batman and Red Tornado looked at eachother before he spoke.

"Work that out between you." He announced to us, making everyone on edge. No one necessarily wanted to just claim the position, forcing someone else beneath them. But I saw the look on Robin's face, he wanted to be the one.

Present time

"Drop zone 'A' in 30." Miss Martian announced, Aqualad's seatbelt removing itself as he stood up. His chair melted back into the ship just before he tapped the icon on his belt, turning his red dive top into a dark grey.

"Ready." He informed her.

"Putting Bioship in camouflage mode." Miss Martian announced as the outside of the ship disappeared from view. The ship flew closer to the water as a hatch opened below and Aqualad jumped out in a swan dive. As we flew closer to the island, we heard Aqualad radio in.

"Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in." He alerted before disconnecting the line.

"Drop zone 'B'." Miss Martian announced, everyone standing up, their seats melting back into the ship. She willed lines to come down from the ceiling, Robin, KF and I hooking them to our belts. Kid tapped the Icon on his chest, his yellow and red suit becoming dark grey and black with crimson decals.

"How cool is this?" Wally looked to Miss Martian, showing off the capabilities of his new suit.

"Very impressive." She indulged him before willing her usual uniform to become a black body suit with the red 'X' remaining on her chest, her dark blue cape extending to her mid calf and a hood forming.

"Uh, that works, too." Kid got a sly look on his face as I kicked him in the shin. "Hey, Supey, not too late to put on the new stealth tech." He offered, but the Kryptonian just crossed his arms.

"No capes, no tights. No offense." Superboy had this weird thing about wearing hear uniforms, but it didn't bother me.

"It totally works for you…" Miss Martian lost herself for a moment. "In that you can totally do good work in those clothes." She was completely awkward, giving a thumbs up before blushing and putting her hood up, using her martian camouflage to turn invisible. A hatch opened in the bottom of the ship, Miss Martian flying down and the rest of us using our lines, minus Superboy. We all disconnected and jumped out of the way as he smashed down, creating a sizeable crater beneath his feet.

"Knew I didn't need a line." He finally smiled, not something he did that often.

"Really?" I sassed, making a face at him.

"And yet creating a seismic event may not have helped us much with the covert." Robin barked at him as Miss Martian radioed in.

"Aqualad, drop 'B' is go." She said, awaiting his response.

"Head for the factory. I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP." Aqualad ordered.

"Roger that." Robin replied from his holocomputer before turning it off to avoid the light being seen. We all took off, making our way to the factory. I couldn't stop to admire the scenery, but even at night, this place was amazing as we hiked through the jungle, even under a waterfall. But I suddenly heard twigs snapping that weren't from any of us.

"Did you hear that?" Superboy looked to me.

"Uh, no." Kid Flash was quick to answer.

"Yeah, there are people ahead." I nodded, smelling the air to try and see how many there were.

"Wait. Is this a super hearing thing?" Kid asked and I smacked his arm.

"Shut up, I'm trying to focus." I snapped at him in a whisper.

"You do have great ears." Miss Martian commented with this look on her face like Superboy was just melting her.

"Ok, Rob, now what?" Kid looked around, but Robin was already gone. "Man, I hate it when he does that." He complained. I knew exactly what he was doing, but since he didn't voice it, I decided to stay with the Team to make sure they didn't get themselves killed. This was probably going to come back and bite Rob in the ass.

"Superboy, Kid, switch to infrared. See if you're being tracked." Aqualad radioed in to us. I watched as KF pulled down his goggles and and flipped a switch.

"Got a squad of armed bozos incoming." He reported as I climbed a tree to see if I could get a better vantage point since I can see in the dark.

"Two squads. But they'll meet each other before they find us." Superboy reported just before we heard the sound of gunfire.

"No super hearing required now." Wally said as he started to move forward.

"Swing wide, steer clear." Aqualad ordered, but Kid wasn't going to listen.

"Yeah, yeah, as soon as I find Rob." He said before disappearing to the jungle, straight towards the gunfight. But I heard it the second he slipped and fell straight down the hill. "So much for the stealthy." Kid said sheepishly before running away from the gunfire. Bane tried to get him, but Superboy got in the way, knocking the Venom producer to the ground. The two of them fought as I attacked the people shooting at KF, making sure not to get shot. Robin sailed down from the trees and assisted, taking out some of the shooters.

"What is wrong with you guys? Remember covert? Why didn't you follow my lead, vanish into the jungle?" Robin shouted. I snorted. It came back to bite him faster than expected.

"That's what you were doing?" Kid yelled as he took out two more guys.

"Way to fill the rest of the Team." I laughed as I slashed a guy's chest before kicking him into the tree.

"We're not mind readers, you know. Er, I'm not anyway." Kid said as Miss Martian telekinetically slammed someone into a tree.

"You told me I could only read the bad guys' minds." She smiled, looking to Rob and Kid. I looked over and saw Aqualad grab a gun from someone before electrocuting them and destroying the gun by stomping on it.

"I recognize those uniforms." I said, looking to Robin. We had everyone tied up to trees, making sure they didn't escape to alert the factory of our presence.

"They belong to the cult of the Kobra." He informed all of us.

"I am certain Batman would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom operation." Aqualad observed, thinking about how thorough the briefing was.

"Agreed, and since there's clearly no love lost Between the cultists and those goons," Robin looked to me with a smile. I knew exactly what was running through that kids mind.

"I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed them out. That's why normal supply lines have been cut off." I finished for him with a sigh. He was getting a little too into his role tonight.

"We get it." KF droned. "Kobra wanted super cultists. Mystery solved. Radio Bats, and we'll be home in time-" I knew he was going to say in time for breakfast, but Robin cut him off.

"These cultists aren't on Venom. Kobra's hoarding the stuff. We don't leave. Not until I know why." Robin spoke harshly, and with that, there was a fair chance I was going to dead leg him right then and there.

"What did you just say?" I asked him through my teeth, fed up with his behavior this mission.

"Until you know why?" Kid leaned forward, slanting his eyes at the little hero.

"This team needs a leader." Robin argued.

"And it's you? Dude, you're a 13-year-old kid who ducked out on us without a word." KF literally proved Rob unfit to lead us with a single sentence. But the Boy Wonder just laughed.

"And you're a mature 15? You blew our cover first chance you got." Robin tried to flip it around on Kid but I stood between them.

"Think about it, his suit is usually a bright yellow and red. He's just not used to stealth missions. He would have known better if you just stuck with the Team of at least said what you were going to do. He only got caught trying to find you before we got to the Factory." I jabbed my finger into his chest, looking down upon him as I spoke. But I only set him off.

"You could have told them!" Robin snapped at me and I just laughed at him.

"I could have, but it was your action, not mine." I said calmly with a smile. But the smile faded as they kept going. But one thing brought me back in.

"Yeah? You don't even have super powers!" Kid shouted at Robin, trying to prove himself better.

"Neither does Batman!" Robin brought up his best argument, but this was going to fail for him. Kid started to walk away but Rob followed him.

"Duh, you're not Batman." Kid Flash reminded him harshly.

"Duh, closest thing we've got." Robin defended, this being the part where I stepped in.

"Oh, excuse me? You know you didn't just say that because I'm the closest thing this Team has to Batman. I know when to switch between Batspeak and actually communicating with my Teammates!" I snapped at him coldly. He stopped in his tracks.

"Such clever ninos. But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest… Get you into the factory via my secret entrance." Bane said as he laughed at the arguing. Miss Martian knelt down and focused on Bane's mind.

"There is a secret entrance, But he's also hiding something." She said before trying to dig deeper into his mind.

"Ah, ah, ah, chica. Bane is not that easy." He smirked in that stupid wrestler mask. Miss Martian groaned in aggravation.

"He's mentally reciting futbol scores en espanol. This could take a while." She frowned, trying to keep going.

"It's not complicated. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." He was trying to get us to release him from his bindings. I looked to Aqualad and he nodded. I stepped forward, using my claws to shred the roped in one swipe. Bane lead us to a cliff where he revealed the factory below, crawling with kobra cultists. Robin and I pulled out our binoculars and scoped out the place.

"Look at all that product. A buy is going down. But if Kobra's not selling to the usual suspects, then-" Robin observed as Bane walked away, but I followed him closely.

"We need to identify that buyer." Aqualad said as he saw me following Bane.

"Just what I was thinking." Kid Flash said, pulling away from the edge of the cliff.

"Yeah, you're the thinker." Robin commented, but I shot him a look that he knew meant: Don't make me come over there.

"Sarcasm? Dude. A real leader would focus on getting answers." Kid Flash said as I watched Bane remove a boulder from the entrance of an old mine shaft.

"Answers are this way." He informed everyone with a snide tone in his voice.

"So, now el luchador is our leader." KF commented, Robin whacking him in the back of the head. We all followed the villain until he stopped and stuck his thumb in a scanner, opening a door to the factory. Bane opened the door just barely so Robin could take a peek out.

"All clear." He informed the rest of us when he could've given someone else a chance to do it. He just slipped out and disappeared.

"Has that little fool already been caught?" Bane asked, looking around for Robin.

"No, he just does that." Aqualad informed the villain.

"Stay put. I'll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder." Kid tried to leave, but I grabbed his shoulder, pressuring him with my claws.

"Nice try, but not alone. Aqualad?" I asked the atlantean and he nodded. I hopped on Kid's back and he ran us off to find the control room or at least an accessible computer.

"Whatcha got?" Kid Flash asked as we found rob hacking the Kobra systems with a cultist knocked out on the floor. I hopped off Kid's back as he pulled a protein bar out of the compartment in his suit.

"Chemical formulas." Robin said, immediately pulling Kid's interest. "I'm guessing it involves Venom, but…" Robin couldn't really tell from the molecular model.

"This one's Venom, and that one's… whoa. The Blockbuster Formula from Cadmus. Mixed correctly, Kobra's new juice is than Venom and permanent." Kid educated us on what we were looking at.

"But how did Kobra get access to project Blockbuster?" I asked, looking at Robin, making him think. The supplier has to be coming for their shipment tonight.

"Our mystery buyer must also be Kobra's supplier! Using the cult to create a Blockbuster Venom super formula." Robin put it all together pretty quickly. "Robin to Aqualad, we got... Static." Robin spat as he turned off his radio. We were going have to do this the old fashioned way. But it was too late, the sound of gunfire and something roaring in the main area of the wear house signaled our cover was blown. Robin, Kid Flash and I ran out over the catwalk to see what was going on. Aqualad had a shield up, Miss Martian was down, and Superboy was battling what I guessed to be the test subject of the new Kobra Venom. I dove off the catwalk and took out the Kobra cultists shooting at Kid Flash and Aqualad.

"Miss Martian, radio is jammed! Link us up!" Aqualad ordered and suddenly I felt like a wave went through my mind.

Everyone online? Miss Martian echoed in my mind.

Yeah. Superboy wasn't pleased but he was rolling with it.

You know it, beautiful. Kid said with the dorkiest smile on his face.

Oh, shut up. I glared at him before racing off to take out more Kobra cultists.

Good. We need to regroup. Aqualad ordered but Robin spoke up.

Busy now. He said quickly. I smelled the air, finding that he left the Warehouse.

Robin, now! Aqualad ordered more forcefully. Strategic retreat. Kid, clear a path. With that, I saw KF zigzag through cultists like it was nothing. I ran like hell, dodging gunfire as I followed the speedster. Everyone was running, but Superboy got sidetracked with the test subject. But he got inside and slammed the door shut before running with us. But the cultists and the subject were still on our tail in the mine shaft.

"Superboy, the support beams!" Aqualad said out loud, Superboy smashing the metal beams and the tunnel behind us collapsing. We were safe, for now. Aqualad snapped a red glowstick.

"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Robin asked. I wanted to say something so badly, but I held my tongue.

"You do have the most experience. Perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are defined. You two do not need to talk. 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." Aqualad explained in a calm and cool manner, trying not to offend the Boy Wonder.

"Oh, so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands." Robin spoke, but the second he heard himself, his face twisted into defeat. Who am I kidding? You should lead us, Kaldur. You're the only one who can." Robin smiled, finally knowing he was right.

"Please! I can run circles-" I put a hand to Wally's chest. "Wally, come on. You know he's the one. We all do." I got him to stop. He just looked down at me in the red lighting.

"Hello, Megan. It's so obvious." Even M'gann saw it.

"Could have told you." Even Superboy agreed, everyone looking to Wally, who was still looking at me. I took a step back.

"Okay." The speedster agreed with confidence, putting his hands on his hips. Kaldur approached Robin and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Then I accept the burden, until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon." Kaldur saw Robin's potential. Even Batman has seen it, but even he knew Rob wasn't ready to lead. "All right. Our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving this island." Kaldur made it clear what our goal was.

"Funny. I had the same thought." Robin admitted. "When I said I was busy earlier, I sabotaged their helicopter." He smirked, proud of his unseen handiwork.

"Sportsmaster's the supplier/buyer. But it still doesn't track. He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster Formula." Robin said as he went through data on his holocomputer.

"Or to get Kobra to do his dirty work." I reminded them. Kobra was a force to be reckoned with, especially not by a butch assassin.

"And neither of them have the chops to bond Blockbuster with Venom. That took some major nerdage." Wally said as we all ran.

"Takes one to know one." I snorted, but Kid just laughed with me.

"I believe the expression is tip of the iceberg." Aqualad said just before we made it to the end of the tunnel.

"Halt, ninos. I'm feeling explosive." Bane said as he primed the explosives above us.

"You betrayed us. Why?" Aqualad stalled.

"I want my factory back." Bane said like it was so obvious, and it was.

Kid, you'll need a running start. Aqualad ordered in the link.

"So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying. 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. Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect." He said as the detonator disappeared from his hand.

"With what? This trigger thingy?" Kid taunted the villain with the detonator in hand. Bane bellows as he swung at the Speedster, but Miss Martian levitated him into the air, Kid remaining intact. Superboy walked over and got into position with a big smile on his face. I had to admit, he was pretty ballsy, and it was awesome.

"Finally. Drop him." Superboy said with his rare smile. Miss Martian did as he asked, letting Bane plummet as Superboy punched him as hard as he could. After, we made a break for the helicopter pad at the factory. Kid Flash ran ahead and took out as many as he could as he drawed their fire.

"Take the shipment!" Kobra ordered but Superboy crash landed with his smile still plastered to his face.

"Go again?" The Kryptonian offered the test subject, it roaring in anger. But Kid Flash knocked the cultist out of the way of the subjects rampage and the second he was in place, Aqualad blasted the creature with highly pressurized water. "Sorry. Not the plan." Superboy smiled. But Sportsmaster came out of no where, shooting Superboy with something that was actually hurting him. Even grabbing Miss Martian while she was in camouflage mode, putting her in a choke hold. But Kid ran by my and put me on his back. I held onto him tightly with my legs, clawing and punching cultists like they were nothing, the speed being an added bonus. He let my hop off as he stopped in front of Kobra himself.

"Souvenir." Wally smiled, holding one of the cultist's masked before taking off again. Robin threw his bolas at Shimmer, quickly tying her up and keeping her out of the fight.

"I know you hate getting your hands dirty." Robin taunted as he and I surrounded Kobra, the man's attention focused on Robin, not me.

"True. But sometimes, even a god must stoop to conquer." Kobra said as he dropped the cloak, Robin charging him. Kobra blocked every one of Robin's blows. The second he kicked Robin away, I raked my claws down his back and rolled under his legs, standing between him and my little brother.

"What happened to gods bleeding golden ichor?" I smirked at him, showing him the red blood dripping from my claws before backing up to stand with Robin.

"What's wrong, boy? You look disconcerted." Kobra said, completely ignoring me. Robin just gave me a mischievous look. The helicopter took off with Sportsmaster inside, but I heard a familiar click, the helicopter exploded, even crashed into the factory, destroying all of the Kobra Venom. But Kobra saw this as a distraction and threw me aside, putting his foot down on Robin's chest.

"I am plagued by mosquitoes." Kobra said angrily as I picked myself up as silently charged him.

"Good, 'cause this mosquito's mighty concerted over your pain." Robin said as I tackled Kobra to the ground, allowing for Rob to regroup with the team. Kobra punched me in the eye, knocking me back to the Team.

"Another time, then." He said before disappearing into the darkness of the jungle. Robin checked for where he went as Kid Flash ran to my side, helping me up from the ground.

"We picked the right guy to lead. Automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman." Robin laughed as the massive factory was going down in flames.

The Cave

July 23rd, 2010

"A simple recon mission, observe and report." Batman spoke harshly, leaning closely into Aqualad's face. Everyone felt awful as Batman scolded us for the happenings of the mission. "You'll each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes. Until then, Good job." Batman shocked everyone with that last line. I even took it as an okay sign to lift the bag of ice in my hand and put it back to my eye to help the swelling go down. "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads determines character." With that, everyone felt a little bit better about blowing our cover on our first mission. As Batman dismissed us, we all separated.

"Hey, wait up." Wally said as he sped over to me. "How's your eye?" He asked and I just laughed at the red head, removing the ice from my face.

"You tell me." I smiled, showing him the swollen, black and blue mess. He had this look on his face as he reached up, lightly touching the bruises. "I'll be fine, it's not my first black eye and I've received them from much worse." I quickly realized what that must have meant to him.

"I remember, you had some pretty gruesome injuries that day Flash and I found you fighting ice villains in the street, all on your own." He said quietly, but I just looked down on the ground.

"I remember." I said before turning to walk away from him.

"Are we not going to talk about this?" He asked, just standing there, not following me in fear of overstepping a boundary. I just remained silent before programming the Zeta-tube to take me to the Batcave. "You know I'm here." Wally said before I stepped into the tube.

"I know." I just barely looked back, not making eye contact with him. I walked into the Zeta-tube, it bathing my in it's golden light as I left him behind.

Recognized:

Wildcat B04