Chapter 6
A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back. Sorry about the uploading issue, i don't know why the site keeps doing this to my stories suddenly. Remember, I just own my OCs, nothing else ok? Ok.
/comms/
Telepathy/flashbacks
Santa Prisca, July 22, 21:13ECT
Aqualad cursed as the sound of gunfire filled the factory as their so called "ally" blew their cover. This wasn't good, far from it. The Cult of the Cobra was here, as well as Sportsmaster and some new villain; it wouldn't take them long to figure out what was going on.
Glass shattered behind them, and both Atlantean and Kryptonian cried out in surprise as the platform they were on gave way. Landing on the ground with a thud, they stumbled to their feet as a large Hulk-like being loomed over them roaring angrily.
"Well, well," the scorpion-boy grinned as he sauntered in with the rest of the heavy hitters, "seems like we have a rodent infestation, the little rats of the Justice League. And of course, you know what happens to unwanted pests?"
The boy smirked as Kobra developed a similar look, "Destroy them!" he ordered.
The Hulk-creature roared, charging and tackling Superboy. The cultists opened fired, forcing Aqualad to for a shield rather than aid his friend. However, he didn't expect a column of rock to shoot out from the ground and slam into his chest. Flying back, he crashed through a few crates, grimacing as he felt pieces of wood and glass embedded in his skin. Looking up and raising his shield again, he saw the culprit. The scorpion boy, turned making a fist and punching right, causing a similar column of rock to follow and slam into Superboy, blasting him right through the wall as the Hulk-man chased after. Punching him back in, Superboy leapt at him, only for his opponent to throw him into another wall as they continued to fight.
Thankfully, they had one advantage in their favor. Cultists began to fly through the air at random, almost as if invisible wires had yanked them off their feet. Miss Martian had entered the brawl.
And Aqualad was not the only one who noticed. "Serket!" Sportsmaster snapped.
The dark-haired boy turned narrowing his eyes as the mercenary hurled a spear. As it flew through the air, a red light flashed and it blew up, blasting the Martian girl down onto one of the tanks as he allies made a slow retreat. Serket ran over, leaping up and slamming his fist onto where the girl had previously been lying.
"Miss Martian! Radio is down! Link us up!" Aqualad ordered.
Serket grinned, throwing a punch as the girl narrowly dodges. "What's the matter?" he swung his tail, "Can't handle a little heat?"
"I'll show you what I can handle!" she responded using her telekinesis to hurl him back. Flipping in the air, he landed on his feet. Stomping a foot on the ground, a boulder ripped itself out of the floor and he sent it flying at her. catching it in the air, she hurled it back, only to watch as he caught it and sent it flying at Superboy, who got rammed by it.
"Superboy?!" she exclaimed.
"I'm fine, that guy hits like a tank," the clone muttered ducking under another one of his opponent's swings.
"We need to fall back and regroup," Aqualad stated.
"Busy now!" Robin snapped.
Another boulder flew by. "ROBIN! NOW!" Forming his water whips, Aqualad swung, knocking back several cultists. "We need to retreat. Kid, clear a path!"
At his command, Kid Flash raced out of the shadows, ramming into cultists clearing the way to the secret entrance as his team an after. Superboy, on the other hand, remained in a gridlock with the Hulk-dude. Grabbing his arm, the clone hurled him towards an incoming group of cultists and the scorpion boy. As he flew towards them, Serket raised a wall of rock, cracks forming as his ally crashed into it.
Seeing his chance, Superboy raced into the tunnel, closing the door behind them as he fallowed his team into the tunnel. Unfortunately, it took them less time to recover than he thought as the door was broken down.
Then, all of a sudden, cracks began to spread on the ceiling and support beams groaned. "He's going to collapse the tunnel on us!" Aqualad exclaimed. Racing faster, M'gann used her telekinesis to yank them all forwards as the roof caved in, narrowly missing them.
After a minute, Aqualad cracked a glowstick, tossing it on the ground as they looked at the wall of rock blocking the way back to the factory. "How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Robin lamented, putting his hands on his hips.
"You do have the most experience," Kaldur agreed, "but perhaps that's exactly what's left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman your roles are defined, you do not need to communicate. But this team is new, and the leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play their parts in an unknown plan."
"Oh! So I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands?!" Robin snapped whirling on Kaldur. Taking a breath, the boy calmed himself down, "Who am I kidding, you should lead us Kaldur, you're the only one who can."
"Please! I can run circles—"
"Wally come on," Robin interjected tossing his friend a glare as he crossed his arms, "you know he's the one, we all do."
"Hello Megan! It's so obvious!"
"Superboy shrugged, "Could've told ya."
"Am I the only one wondering how our other teammates, you know, the ones Bats didn't trust to come on this assignment will feel about this?" Wally reminded.
"Wally, you heard Batman, they had a different mission," M'gann defended.
"And it just so happens to be around the same time as our first mission?" the redhead scoffed. "I don't buy it. And isn't it odd that they seem to be like our new earthbending buddy out there?"
"They were rescued from Cadmus," Robin remembered. "They could've been transferred from another facility?"
"Whatever, I still find this too coincidental," he growled. "New guys shouldn't get a say in who leads."
"Wally," Kaldur scolded, "that would not be fair to our new comrades, nor would it be conductive to building a strong team. I will take the burden for this mission and then we will see what our friends back at the Cave think, and if they accept, I will take the burden until you are ready," he patted Robin on the shoulder, "You were born to lead this team, maybe not now, but soon. Now, our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving."
"Funny, I had the same thought," Robin grinned, "so I sabotaged the helicopter."
"Good work," Kaldur said as they began to head towards the exit.
"But there's still one thing that doesn't track: Sportsmaster being the supplier/buyer," Robin continued. "He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula, or labs to get access to whatever Scorpion King is, or even get Kobra to do his dirty work."
"And neither have the chops to combine Blockbuster and Venom," KF added in, "that took some major nerdage."
"I believe the expression is: tip of the iceberg," Aqualad recited as he came to a stop at the exit.
In their way, stood Bane with a detonator in hand, "Halt ninos. I'm feeling…explosive."
Looking up, they could see the bombs covering the top of the tunnel entrance. "You betrayed us, why?" Aqualad questioned. "Kid you need a running start."
"I want my factory back!" the drug lord snapped. "So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies, or die trying. If the latter, then the Justice League would come to avenge their sidekicks, and when the smoke cleared Santa Prisca would be mine once more. Blowing the tunnel up with you inside, should have the same effect." His thumb moved down, however, instead of meeting the button, it met the warm skin of his own hand. Opening his palm, Bane was shocked to see it empty.
"With what?" Bane turned to see the young speedster leaning casually against a tree behind him waving the detonator teasingly. "This trigger thingy?"
Growling, Bane turned to throw a punch, only to be yanked back into the air. As he floated back to face the others, he could see the Martian girl holding him up as Superman's sidekick approached with a grin on his face, "Finally, drop him."
Bane fell to the ground and the last thing he saw was a fist flying towards his face.
-.-
Sportsmaster and Serket hopped out of the Helicopter as it failed to start. "Sabotage," the mercenary stated, "Robin?"
"Undoubtedly," Kobra confirmed turning to Shimmer, "Find the problem, fix it."
The girl bowed, walking away towards the copter as one of the cultists came forwards, "Should we send a search party after the intruders?"
"Don't be absurd," Serket scoffed. "The heroes will come to us. What we need to do is be prepared for them."
"A trap?" Sportsmaster asked.
"Obviously. They want the shipment. They'll come back to make sure we can't leave the island with it," he smirked.
"So, what do you propose?" Kobra questioned.
Serket turned, tapping his chin before looking at the factory. "We can't use the supplies of our shipment, but we could use the old stuff. Give you men a…boost? So to speak."
Kobra smirked, giving a nod to one of his men as they went to start opening boxes of Venom to inject themselves with it.
"Sportsmaster, when the helicopter's ready, we should go, the sooner we leave, the less time they'll have to plan."
"Not a bad idea kid," the man huffed putting his hands on his hips. "We can use Mammoth to handle the Superboy, he'll be able to keep him occupied. The real problem will be the others. I can handle the Martian, but the speedster, Atlantean, and Boy Wonder will be harder."
"Atlanteans need water," Serket muttered. "And from what I know from studying Aqualad's strategies, he can't do what Seaspray and Tsunami can. Handling him won't be hard for me, all I have to do is use my earth to make his water mud and it'll be useless. Not to mention, if he tries and close range," he raised his tail.
"Which leaves the speedster and Robin."
"Robin is the real target, he can take down the helicopter," Serket said as Sportsmaster nodded.
"Good, you're learning well. We'll leave the speedster to the small fry, once you get rid of Aqualad, I trust you can handle Robin?"
"Shouldn't be much of a problem."
A whir came from the copter, causing the two to look towards it. The rotors started spinning as a cultist came over and bowed, "The helicopter is operational Exalted One."
"Finally," Sportsmaster scoffed walking towards it. A blur ran through his path, knocking down several armed cultists as they opened fired.
"Take the shipment!" Kobra shouted.
A crash shook the ground and they turned as Superboy landed, smirking at Mammoth. "Go again?" Mammoth charged forwards, only to be slammed aside by a column of water. "Sorry, not the plan!"
"Like it'd be that easy!" Serket snarled as a rock wall rose between Aqualad and Mammoth blocking the waterflow. Striking his hand forwards, Superboy grunted as several small rock beams shot out of the soil, slamming into his jaw and sending him flying back into Aqualad. As they got up, Sportsmaster came out of the helicopter firing a gun. The explosive bullets made impact with Superboy's skin, burning the cloth of his shirt away as it blew up and blasted him and Kaldur back.
The gunfire stopped for a moment as Sportsmaster gave a roundhouse kick, slamming Miss Martian into the ground and knocking her out of camouflage mode. Picking her up, he wrapped his arm around her neck, using her as a hostage. Mammoth leapt forwards, his fists slamming into where Superboy had been standing. It was then another water torrent blasted him off his feet.
Kaldur channeled the water flow into this opponent. Pulling one hand back, he allowed his tattoos to start to glow as he prepared to electrify it.
A stinger stabbing at his face stopped him. Forcing the torrent aside, it slammed into a stone tent of sorts. One half shot forwards, forcing Aqualad to dodge to the side. Eyes widening he raised a shield as the second one flew at him. It slamming into his shield, shattering it and the Atlantean grimaced as he felt jagged pieces of rock cut his skin.
Fortunately, he was aided by Superboy tackling the young villain aside. "Who are you?!" Superboy growled, ducking under a punch, before throwing one of his own. The boy stepped back from his uppercut, grabbing his arm and throwing him over his shoulder and hurled him onto the ground.
"You can call me Serket," he smirked.
Superboy's eyes widened as the pointed tail came flying down towards his face. Rolling out of the way, it stabbed into the earth, and he could see a green liquid burn away at the ground, creating a hole. Acid. This guy had a tail with acid venom.
Good thing he was invulnerable. Charging forwards, he gave a shout, throwing a punch. Like before, the dude grabbed his arm and hurled him at Aqualad as he finished handling the hulk-guy.
"Thanks for the workout but we gotta fly!" Sportsmaster called tossing M'gann to the ground as Serket leapt onto the helicopter. The craft began to lift off the ground as Superboy helped Miss Martian up. He gave her a look and she smiled, holding up the detonator. Pressing it, a loud bang echoed over the island as flames shot out of the helicopter. It began to fall towards the factory, and through the smoke they could make out two forms bail into the jungle as the copter landed. The factory exploded at the impact, sending a plume of fire and smoke into the air.
"I am plagued, by mosquitos!" Kobra hissed slamming his foot on Robin's chest gaining all of their attention.
"Good, cause this mosquito's mighty concerned over your pain," Robin retorted. Swinging his legs, Kobra lifted his foot or ran the risk of being knocked off his feet as the boy leapt back.
Kobra narrowed his eyes, sizing them up. "Another time then," he said stepping back and disappearing into the jungle.
Robin glowered for a moment after he failed to spot the madman, before smirking and turning to Kaldur. "We picked the right guy to lead. Automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman!" he cackled.
-.-
Mt. Justice, July 23, 10:01EDT
"A simple recon mission! Observe and report!" Batman scolded glaring down at the line of teens in front of him. "You each will be receiving a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes. But, until then, good job," the kids' eyes widened as they looked at him. "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."
"Good job on your mission guys," Amber greeted as Batman dismissed them.
"Thanks Amber," M'gann smiled. "How did your mission go?"
"It went well. We were sent to recover stolen plutonium," she replied flaring out her wings causing the hall to brighten. "My apologizes. Absorbing the radiation tends to have side effects."
"So you absorb radiation and I causes you to blind everyone?" Wally mumbled.
"I guess," she shrugged.
"Amber only absorbed it cause Onyx and I were busing being the heavy hitters," Skylar remarked as she joined them. "We did fight Atomic Skull."
"You guys got to fight Atomic Skull?!" Wally whined.
"Trust me, it wasn't fun," Onyx deadpanned. "He had this Pirate dude with him, controlled people by messing with their emotions or memories. Whatever it was."
"Did you hear I broke his nose?" Skylar grinned slamming her fist into her palm. "Bastard had it coming!"
"Don't you think that was a little excessive?" Kaldur asked.
"He stayed unconscious long enough for the cops to pick him up, otherwise he would've taken off," she stated. "So, what's this we hear about a leader?"
"On our mission," Kaldur began, "the team chose to elect me as Leader. We were curious if you three were on board as well?"
Onyx's brows shot up, "You're asking us?" The three shared a confused look. "I mean, we don't mind, but…"
"It is just soon isn't it?" Amber picked up. "We are new."
"And you are members of this team. You have just as much say as anyone else," Robin chimed in.
Amber nodded, giving a smile, "You seem like a excellent candidate Kaldur. Your emotions are far more stable. You will be able to make level headed decisions in times of crisis."
"Uh…thank you?"
Skylar put her hands on her hips, glaring at Amber. "I know that emotion jab was at me. So, whatever," she waved off. "Let's see how you do fishboy. Onyx?"
"I'm fine with it," he shrugged.
"Awesome, so we officially have our team leader!" Wally cheered. "Let's celebrate with ice cream!"
-.-
Unknown Location
"All we were able to recover was a single ampule of Kobra Venom," Sportsmaster stated holding up the vial.
"It can be reversed engineered. But you other news is what concerns me: first Cadmus, then Mr. Twister, now Santa Prisca."
"Once is happen stance, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action. And enemies of the light, must not stand. Serket, deliver the news to your team. You're being deployed. We must counter this before it escalates."
Serket grinned as he turned and strode from the room, "Consider it our pleasure."