A/N: What's up guys, comin' at you with a nice new chapter! Once again, Francis Barton created by myself, Carter Alenko created by Ghost Fire 6, and Nolan Stark created by Batmarcus. All other characters are owned by Marvel or DC. Editing done by Ghost Fire 6 and MaxGentleman1. Enjoy!
June 16, 0043 ETC, Santa Prisca Island
Inside a cell in Peña Duro, several men were jammed together, being watched by armed men in green jumpsuits. From the shadows emerged a man wearing a black combat vest with a cross bone design on it, and a balaclava with a "(Our leader has offered you a deal. Defeat her champion, and we will give you your island back.)" Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones, said in Spanish, and the men's leader approached. He was a bald, muscular man, with eyes that betrayed a shrewd intelligence. "(Do you understand?)"
"(Tell the witch that I accept her terms.)" the man said, and Crossbones nodded to his men. They unlocked the cell doors, before dropping a duffle bag in front of him.
"(Get dressed.)" The mercenary ordered, and the man raised an eyebrow.
"(You would give me my greatest weapon?)"
"(Trust me, you'll need it.)" Crossbones advised, and the man narrowed his eyes suspiciously before unzipping the bag. Soon, the man was dressed in a Grey, skin tight suit with light black armor around his chest that had red lines on them, in addition to a red Luchador like mask with a metal face plate and two tubes from either wrist that connected to a tank on his back, that connected to a spot on his head.
"(Now, Rumlow let us begin.)" Bane growled out, the men raising their weapons as he prepared to fight, but Crossbones held up his hand.
"(I'm not the one you'll be fighting. Follow me.)" he instructed, and began to lead Bane through the facility. Eventually, they arrived in what had once been the mess hall, where men in green uniforms watched from the guard catwalk, cheering and booing as Bane entered. Crossbones shut the gate. "Good luck." He said in English, as the other opponent entered the makeshift arena. He was a lean, pale teenager with bright red hair and long sideburns, dressed in a blue tank top and black pants. Next to him was an identical looking teenager with similar features, only half her hair had been shaved off and sported a tattoo of a skull with tentacles that reached down to her neck.
"(This toothpick is my opponent? This will be easier than I thought…)" Bane muttered to himself, and the girl looked up at the catwalk towards her leader, who simply nodded. The girl pulled out a syringe gun and inserted the needle into her brother's arm, injecting the reddish brown liquid into him. Soon, the boy began to groan, screaming in pain as he began to change. He grew in size until he was at a size comparable to the Hulk or the Abomination, his skin turning dark green and cracking around his right shoulder, exposing red muscles. Bane's eyes widened in surprise, before he composed himself. He cranked a dial on his wrist, and red liquid flowed from the tubes into his body. His muscles began to expand as Bane grew in size, until he was a little shorter than Mammoth. Bane let out a yell, and the two charged each other. Bane opened with a right cross, before following it with a left uppercut. Mammoth was staggered, and Bane followed up with a savage series of punches…
…before Mammoth caught his fist. Bane tried using the other one, but Mammoth caught that one as well. Bane's widened as he realized Mammoth was overpowering him. Mammoth roared, before taking Bane and throwing him across the room into a wall. Bane woozily dropped onto his feet, before collapsing face first. The men all cheered, beginning to chant.
"Hail Hydra! Hail Hydra! Hail Hydra!" As they continued to chant, the leader watched Mammoth. He exceeded all expectations… and Cynthia Schmidt couldn't help but grin.
Caribbean Sea, July 22, 20:08 ECT
The bioship flew relatively silently over the sea, blending into the dark night sky. The Team was all seated inside, none of them saying a word. "We're approaching Santa Prisca. ETA 10 minutes." Miss Martian announced, as they all thought on their mission briefing
The Team had all been gathered in the briefing room, where Batman and Captain America were both standing in front of the briefing screen, displaying an image of an island. "This is Isla Santa Prisca, an island located in the Caribbean. For years, the only noteworthy thing about the island was that it was home to Pena Duro, one of the most harsh, brutal prisons in Central America." Batman explained, and the image on screen shifted to that of a prison. "This island nation is now the primary source for a new, highly dangerous steroid that greatly increases physical strength, sold under the street name Venom. Infrared satellite imagery shows that the factory, located in what was once the prison, is still operating at full capacity. However, in the past month, all Venom shipments have grinded to a halt."
"Which is where you all come in. You don't just make that much product and not use it." Captain America stated. "We need you to go to the island, find out what's going on, and report back."
"We would like to emphasize that this is a /covert/ recon mission. Observation and report. Do not deviate." Batman emphasized. "Understood?" They all nodded, except for Carter, who raised his hand.
"Uh, who's in charge?" He asked, and Batman and Cap exchanged a look.
"That'll be up to you." Captain America said, and a map of the island appeared. "Now, for this plan to work, there'll be two dropzones…"
"Dropzone A in 30." Miss Martian's voice called up. "Aqualad, X-23, you're up." The Atlantean nodded, tapping the icon on his belt and causing the red shirt of his uniform to turn black. X-23 got out of her seat, now dressed in a dark black shirt with gray accents that covered her shoulders, gloves that went a little past her elbows with sheathes on the hand for her claws, and black pants and combat boots that had a spot for her foot claws, with a domino mask with red eyes. She took a rebreather device from Robin, and the floor of the bioship opened. She wrapped her hands around him from behind, and two dropped down and into the water, beginning to swim as fast as they could. Aqualad formed a water sword and slashed through a net, before shooting out onto the beach, where a motion sensor was hooked up to an anti-aircraft gun. Aqualad ran onto the beach to the motion sensor, inserting a cylindrical device into the sensor, holding his breath for a moment...before the red light turned green.
"Heat and motion sensors are patched into a loop. X-23, you are clear to proceed." He announced, and the mutant shot out of the water. Running over to the anti-aircraft, she unsheathed her claws and sliced open the panel on the side, opening it and removing the targeting chip.
"Anti-aircraft guns on the north side have been disabled. Bioship, you're clear to land."
"Roger. We will meet you at the rendezvous coordinates." Miss Martian said over the comm as they flew over the the other two.
"Shall we get going?" Aqualad asked, and X-23 nodded as they began their trek.
Back on the bioship, the others were getting ready. "So does it slightly scare anyone else that X is so good at this?" Iron Knight asked, still dressed in his civilian clothing.
"Oh good, I thought I was the only one." Scarlet Spider said, as they approached the second dropzone. Miss Martian sent an instruction to the bioship, and cables began descending from the ceiling. Kid Flash took one, and tapped the icon on his chest. Immediately, his costume became a black version, and he smirked as he turned to M'gann.
"This stealth tech is pretty sweet. Fourth generation unstable molecules, designed by Reed Richards. They can withstand cold, heat, take a beating...plus, they do fit pretty well..." Kid said, not so subtly flexing.
"Right?" Scarlet Spider agreed, tapping the spider icon on his the red and blue of his suit to go black, the spider design itself now white. "Fits like a glove, too. The last suit used to chaf, learned the value of baby powder the hard way."
"Uh, yeah, totally…" Kid was obviously disappointed that he got the wrong person to agree, something Trickshot couldn't help but chortle about as he made sure that his quiver was secure. Miss Martian got out of her chair and focused, and her clothes began to change into a black, skintight bodysuit with her large red X on it.
"Now that's how you do a costume change." Robin remarked, and glanced at Superboy. "Is uh...is that really what you're going with?" He asked, and Superboy folded his arms.
"No cape. No tights. No offense." He simply responded, and Robin shrugged as he hooked his clip on.
"I don't know, I think the superhero look works for some…" M'gann said, casting a glance in Trickshots direction.
If either of them had looked over they might have noticed Nolans smirk before he stepped into a new armor. The suit was dark Grey and Black in the areas that could be seen between the plates, his Arc reactor and the few other places on the suit glowed a soft dark blue.
"Iron Knight, Stealth Armor Version Three." Nolan said and they noticed that as he moved the suit made less noise.
"Wait... Version Three? What happened to the first two?" Trickshot asked.
"Well version one blew up, and version two dad made too strong in flight and long story short we had to replace the roof." Iron Knight said before casually jumping out of the bio ship and silently glided down.
"Do you guys ever worry about his armors?" Miss Martian asked.
"Yeah, more than you'll ever know trust me." Trickshot said before sliding down the rope. They all used the cables to slide down, only to dodge out of the way as Superboy dropped to the ground, creating a small crater.
"Knew I didn't need a line." He said with a smirk.
"Supey, I know you're new to all this, but 'stealth' usually doesn't include creating a small seismic event." Trickshot scolded, as Iron Knight activated his comm.
"Aqualad, Dropzone B is go." He said to Kaldur, who was currently climbing a small cliffside with X-23.
"Roger." He responded, taking a moment to catch his breath. "You know, we could have gone around."
"It would take too long. Faster to go over than around. Besides, we're almost there." X-23 responded, and she began to climb, causing the Atlantean to simply sigh.
Meanwhile, the others were all headed through the jungle, being lead by Iron Knight, who was reading the map in his helmet. "Did anyone else consider that maybe having Aqualad climb a mountain wasn't our best choice" Iron Knight asked.
"I was going to question that, but he was the only one who could move fast enough underwater to shut down the motion sensor." Robin said, when Superboy stopped. He heard what sounded like twigs snapping, and they were close.
"Anyone else hear that?" He asked, and they all turned to look at him.
"Hear what?" Trickshot asked. "Wait, is this some kind of super hearing thing?"
"I'm picking up movement just ahead. Too clustered together to be animals." Iron Knight pointed out, and Kid Flash pulled on his goggles, activating his lenses infrared feature as Scarlet Spider did the same.
"I've got a squad of armed bozos coming in from the east."
"And I've got one headed in from the west. Looks like they'll meet up with each other before they meet us." Scarlet Spider confirmed.
"Sounds like a patrol sweeping the island to me. We should keep clear and-" Trickshot started to say, when they heard gunfire break out.
"Well no super hearing required now, I say that we go in and take the guys out before anyone dies. Then we can get some answers. Follow me ladies and gentlemen." Kid Flash said as he dashed off.
"Wait! Kid do not engage, swing wide and steer clear! We are not here to confront unless we have to!" Aqualad said through the comms.
"Yeah, don't worry about it we can take these guys down no pro-whoa!" Kid Flash said, cutting himself off as his feet lost grip on the wet and muddy ground. He slipped, sliding off the path he had been on before he rolled down the hill and landed himself right between the two battling squads.
"Okay, so much for taking them out before they even knew we were here." He sighed looking up into Banes masked face, as the man in question pointed a gun at him.
As he opened fire Kid FLash rushed away only to see several HYDRA troops coming from the other side; 'Great Nazi's like this couldn't have been worse.' He thought.
As he swerved to avoid them, and they also started to open fire on him Superboy leap out from the tree's and slammed hard into Bane, as Iron Knight seemed to appear in the center of the Hydra troops and release what he could only call a taser pulse and knock a few of them down before he began to hit them.
"Way to get us caught even when you aren't dressed like a giant traffic signal." Robin said landing behind Kid Flash and knocking out a few of his own before turning to the speedster.
"We were supposed to be going for covert! You know, trying not to get into fight just like this one!? You know it says a lot when the guy in the metal suit grasps stealth better than the one with Super Speed." He shouted as Kid Flash unleashed a flurry of shots on one man before a few others were taken down by arrows and webs as Trickshot and Scarlet Spider landed, seeming just as annoyed.
"If you guys had just followed my lead, this would have been done with already." Kid Flash shot back.
"Oh, yeah you did a spectacular job at charging in like a madman." Scarlet Spider sighed swinging one man around himself and sending him flying into several others who had been hanging in mid air thanks to M'Gann.
"Stealth 101: stay out of sight! You know? Stick to the shadows? Keep out of view?... Don't fall on your face in front of the men with guns!" Trickshot called out, as he fired an arrow that exploded into knockout gas, knocking out two Hydra goons. One tried to sneak up on him, but he spun on his heel and swung his bow into the guy's head, knocking him out.
As the team finished off both Bane's men and the Hydra soldiers, one Hydra soldier was hiding in the foliage, nervously aiming his gun at Kid Flash and beginning to fire...when it suddenly fell apart into three sliced pieces. Before he could question it, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and was knocked out as Aqualad stepped out of the shadows, X-23 right behind him. Aqualad looked around at the scattered goons, and just sighed.
A short while later, all the goons were tied up, Bane and his men in one group, Hydra in the other, as the team began to discuss what had just happened. "The hell is Hydra doing here?" Iron Knight asked.
"Beats me. But from the way they were going at it with the big guy's men, it's safe to say they aren't exactly friends." Robin said.
"I am certain that Batman and Captain America would have mentioned it if they knew Hydra had taken over the island." Aqualad stated, and Miss Martian leaned over to Trickshot.
"Hydra?" Miss Martian whispered.
"Nazi super science division turned terrorist organization. They've been a pain in our collective asses since the 40's." Trickshot explained.
"Isn't it obvious what they're doing? Batman said this venom stuff enhanced strength, right?" Kid Flash asked, and Aqualad nodded. "Flash said that Hydra's been a mess since the Red Skull died last year. They're probably trying to stockpile Venom, use it to get back on top of the food chain."
"Alright, crazy Nazi science group got tired of being the laughing stock of megacrime, took over the island. Mystery solved." Iron Knight stated. "I'll radio Batman and-"
"Dude, you serious?" Kid Flash asked. "These goons aren't ON Venom. They've gotta be doing something with all that gunk they're hording. We can't leave until we know why!"
"Much as I hate to admit it, Kid's got a point." Trickshot said. "I've seen what this Venom stuff can do, and I don't think we want to wait and see what Hydra does with it."
"See? Now, what we need-"
"What we NEED is a leader." Scarlet Spider cut off.
"Uh, what do you call what I've been doing?"
"Stumbling face first into danger?" Iron Knight asked. "Look, you know I like you Kid, but you're not exactly leadership material."
"So are you volunteering?" KId Flash asked, and the supergenius paused.
"...I'll pass." He said, and looked to Trickshot. "What about Trickshot? He's been doing this longer than anyone else." Out of the corner of her eye, M'gann noticed Trickshot involuntarily tense up for a second.
"I'm uh...I'm good." He stated.
"Same here. After the whole Mister Twister fiasco, I think it's best I stay away from taking charge." Miss Martian interjected, and they looked to Superboy and X-23.
"Really? Me?" Superboy asked sarcastically.
"...good point." Scarlet Spider agreed. "I'll pass too. Rob?"
"If no one else will." Robin said, and Kid Flash scoffed.
"Yeah, ok. The guy who's been doing this for a whole five minutes longer than me is gonna be in charge."
"Hey, I'm not too thrilled about it either, but it beats leaving an impulsive hothead in charge." The Boy Wonder said.
"At least I'm taking charge!"
"Charging in front of a gun, more like." As the team continued to debate, X-23 picked up something with her enhanced hearing.
"(Look, they are distracted! Now is your chance to free yourself and-)"
"(Patience, Bird. For now, I will simply play along, and these young fools will give us what we need.)" Bane said to his associate, and Laura smirked to herself. As Robin and Kid Flash began to debate the merits of having a powered hero in charge, she walked over to Bane.
"(Trust me, just because the loud one says he's in charge doesn't mean we're all fools.)" She replied in perfect Spanish, causing Bane's eyes to widen, before he laughed, stopping the conversation.
"It appears not!" The large man laughed out. "Such clever niños. But you only know half the story."
"So why don't you fill us in?" Scarlet Spider asked, and the masked man chuckled.
"Now now, little araña, Bane does not show all his cards just because you ask." He taunted. "How does the old saying go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Free me, and I will help you drive these parasites off of my island." Aqualad looked at Miss Martian.
"Can you read his mind?"
"I can try." She said, and he chuckled as she kneeled in front of him. "There's a secret entrance somewhere, but he's hiding something…"
"Care to look closer? Be my guest." Bane invited, and her eyes glowed green for a second, before she sighed in frustration.
"It's no use. He's mentally reciting football scores in Spanish." The Martian sighed.
"No way. 'Trust the drug lord we know nothing about' isn't the worst idea I've heard, but it's pretty close." Iron Knight said.
"I do not believe you have a choice, rich boy." Bane taunted, and they all exchanged a glance.
"X, cut him loose." Aqualad instructed, and she nodded as she used her claws to cut him out of the ropes. "If he tries anything, make him hurt." He instructed, and she looked Bane dead in his mask's red eyes.
"With pleasure." She stated, and Bane shrugged off her glare.
"Follow me." He said casually setting out to a path he obviously knew very well.
"So, I guess Lucha Libre over here is in charge." Scarlet Spider teased, and Kid Flash elbowed him.
Meanwhile, inside the factory, Sin was overlooking her men moving various crates, when Crossbones approached. "Boss, the buyer's almost here." He reported.
"Excellent. Activate the radio jamming net. Nothing must interfere with this." She instructed.
Not too far away, the Team and Bane found themselves on a cliff side overlooking the factory.
As they stared, Iron Knight used his helmet to zoom in while Robin pulled out a pair of high powered binoculars, zooming in to see Hydra soldiers unloading several crates of Venom. "Whoa, that's an awful lot of product." Iron Knight whistled as Robin nodded.
"No way that a deal isn't going down tonight, or already agreed on." Robin said.
"But if HYDRA's not selling to the usual suspects then we have an unknown buyer on our hands." Trickshot sighed.
"We need to identify that buyer." Aqualad said.
"Just what I was thinking." Kid Flash smirked.
"Oh yeah, because you're the thinker." Robin said in a tone heavy with sarcasm.
"Really dude sarcasm? A real leader would be focused on getting answers." Kid Flash said.
"Yeah, and a real leader also wouldn't have tried to pick a fight on a covert mission." Scarlet Spider pointed out.
"Besides if you want answers, they're this way." Bane said moving a large boulder to reveal a long tunnel. "This will take us directly into the factory."
"How do we now Hydra doesn't already have guards on the other end?" X-23 asked.
"This island is home to all sorts of secrets that only I know. Now, are we going to stand here and talk, or are we going to proceed?" Bane beckoned, and they began to proceed through the tunnel. Bane lead them toward a sealed door, pressing a button and causing it to unlock. They entered the factory, taking cover behind some vats.
"Alright, I'm going to go get some intel! Be right back!" Kid Flash stated.
"Kid, wait!" Wally was gone before the words left Aqualad's lips, leaving them all behind.
"That little idiot's going to get himself caught!" Bane chastised, and Trickshot sighed.
"Yeah yeah. Robin, let's go get Kid Dumbass before he blows our cover again." The archer said, and he and the Boy Wonder took off in Kid Flash's direction.
"Great chain of command you all have here." Bane mocked, causing the others to share a glance.
In a nearby room, two Hydra guards were stationed at monitors, when a black blur zoomed in and slammed the head of one into the console, before an arrow hit the wall in front of the other one and dispensed a bit of knockout gas. Kid Flash turned to see Robin and Trickshot entering the room. "Took you guys long enough."
"I'm just glad you didn't fall on your ass again." Trickshot said, and looked at the computers. "Well, while we're here, we might as well see what they've got here."
"Already on it." Robin said, taking a usb cord out of his gauntlet and connecting it to the computer.
Back at the bottom floor, the others were watching Hydra soldiers moving various crates. "It's even more than we thought…" Scarlet Spider muttered out.
"But they only seem to be moving newer crates." X-23 pointed out, and Miss Martian turned to Bane.
"Does freshness count?"
"No, it doesn't. And the Venom they are moving looks...different, somehow." Bane pointed out, when Superboy's ears perked up.
"There's a helicopter coming."
Back in the control room, Trickshot and Kid Flash were standing over Robin as he hacked the computer, Kid Flash eating a candy bar he had found on the desk. "Dude, how are you not fat?" Trickshot asked.
"I've got a boosted metabolism. Always gotta put something in the tank, y'know?" The speedster replied, and Trickshot sighed.
"Lucky bastard…" He muttered to himself, before looking at Robin. "So, Rob, find anything interesting?"
"Maybe? It's all kinds of formulas and junk. Science isn't exactly my wheelhouse, so it's a bunch of gibberish to me."
"Let me take a look." Kid Flash said, and looked at the formulas displayed on the screen.
"Alright, so this red stuff here is Venom, and this blue stuff is...whoa! That's the Blockbuster formula from Cadmus!" He said, and the other two sets of eyes widened.
"You can't be serious." Trickshot said, and Kid Flash nodded.
"I'm positive." Kid Flash said, as he began to read the rest of the screen's content. "Says here that, mixed properly, Hydra's new Venom is about ten times stronger...and permanent."
"We barely beat Desmond, and we had to drop a building on him to do that. If this stuff got out...I don't even wanna think about it." Robin said with a slight shudder.
"Question is, how did Hydra even know how to mix this stuff? If it was AIM, I could see it, but Hydra? They don't have the chops for this anymore." Trickshot stated, and he reached a conclusion. "Someone gave this to them."
"Agreed. And it stands to reason that whoever the supplier is is also the buyer." Robin said, and tapped his earpiece. "Robin to team, we-" He started to say, when a burst of static cut him off.
Back at the helipad, Sin, Crossbones, Mammoth, and Shimmer watched as the helicopter touched down, and from it stepped a man with short blonde hair, a gray hockey mask on his face, wearing a blue muscle shirt with armor on his left side. "Herr Sportsmaster. Welcome to the new Hydra Island." Sin greeted.
"Sin. Pleasure to do business with you again." Sportsmaster greeted, and looked at Crossbones. "Brock."
"Lawrence." Crossbones coldly greeted. "Been a while. Haven't seen you since you left me to rot in that prison in Corto Maltese."
"Nothing personal. Besides, I heard Hydra goons get the VIP treatment there." Sportsmaster responded, and Crossbones narrowed his eyes as he clenched a fist...
"Rumlow, enough." Sin instructed, and Crossbones backed down. Sin nodded to Shimmer, who opened the briefcase to reveal several vials full of blue liquid.
"So, this is the new and improved Hydra-Venom?" Sportsmaster asked, picking up a vial and examining it. "This stuff work like it's supposed to?"
"Even better than our initial projections." Sin said, gesturing to Mammoth. "Mammoth here has maintained his increased size and strength for over a month, and though he is unable to speak, Shimmer here assures me he has retained his full mental capacity. I believe your employers will be most satisfied." As Sin continued her sales pitch, a cloaked Miss Martian was hovering nearby, watching the deal go down.
"Aqualad, mentally transmitting image of the buyer now." She said, and Aqualad closed his eyes as an image of Sportsmaster and Sin appeared before his eyes.
"Sportsmaster is the buyer. And...I do not recognize the woman in charge of Hydra." He said aloud.
"More than likely you refer to the bruja who took over my island. Her men refer to her simply as 'Sin,'" Bane said, causing Iron Knight's eyes to widen under his helmet.
"Sin? As in 'daughter of the Red Skull' Sin?" Iron Knight asked. "You didn't think to mention that the Red Skull's daughter was in charge of this?"
"All that matters to me is that she stole my home. Nothing else seemed relevant." The drug lord responded.
"Alright, so Sportsmaster's the buyer, and Sin's in charge. Mystery solved...again." Scarlet Spider stated. "Can we call Batman and go home now?"
"I agree." Aqualad said, activating his communicator. "Aqualad to Captain America." However, the Atlantean was met with a burst of static. "No luck."
"I can't raise Robin, Kid, or Trickshot either." Iron Knight piped up.
"Probably a communications jammer. No signals in or out." X-23 suggested. "We need a new plan."
"Allow me to make a suggestion." Before Bane could say anything else, he cranked his Venom dial leapt off the catwalk onto a Hydra soldier, picking one up and tossing him at another, causing the others to open fire at him.
"The hell is he doing?" Superboy asked.
"Getting himself killed? How am I supposed to-" Scarlet Spider started to say, before his spider sense went off. "Everybody move!" Before they could, however, Mammoth crashed through the window and into the catwalk, destroying it and scattering them as more soldiers flooded the room.
"Kill them." Sin instructed, and Crossbones nodded as he pulled out his guns, opening fire with the rest of the soldiers.
As the others took cover from the gunfire, Superboy rushed Mammoth, who grabbed the Kryptonian and threw him towards the wall. However, Superboy stuck the landing and rushed Mammoth again, delivering a punch to his gut and staggering him. Aqualad used one of his water bearers to create a watershield to block the bullets and used the other to fire bursts of water at soldiers, while Iron Knight used his repulsors to blast away the soldiers. X-23 popped all of her claws and leapt at a group of soldiers, expertly slashing and spinning with such a grace that all of their weapons were sliced into pieces, and the soldiers were all slashed in non lethal ways that allowed her to incapacitate them. Scarlet Spider jumped from the walls and tackled two soldiers, before backflipping over a burst of bullets and using his webbing to yank the gun out of one soldier and toss it at another.
As Crossbones lead his soldiers against the Team, Shimmer, Sin, and Sportsmaster were observing the battle, and Sportsmaster noticed several soldiers being tossed around by an invisible force. All the sidekicks were otherwise occupied, and, too his knowledge, none of them possessed telekinesis. That's when Sportsmaster looked up, seeing an interesting distortion in the ceiling. He took a javelin out of his belt, and tossed it at the cloaked Miss Martian. She narrowly dodge the Javelin, but it exploded right in front of her, knocking her back.
"Damn Martians…" Crossbones muttered out, aiming his weapon at the stunned Martian…
Only for an arrow to fly from above and jerked the firearm out of his hand. Crossbones looked in time to see Trickshot firing arrows down from a catwalk as Kid Flash ran down, disarming and slamming into several Hydra soldiers. "Of course Hawkeye's brat's here…" He growled out, and looked at Sin. "We'll hold them off!" She nodded, and turned to Sportsmaster.
"Time for us to leave." She instructed, and she and Shimmer led Sportsmaster to the helicopter.
As the three fled towards the helicopter, the Team was beginning to get boxed in, something Aqualad realized when he was backed against a vat. "Miss Martian, radio's jammed! Link us up!" He called out to the dazed Martian.
"But I thought I wasn't supposed to-"
"Just do it!" He called back, and she nodded as she established the link.
"Can everyone hear me?"
"Yeah…" Superboy reluctantly said, dodging a punch from Mammoth to deliver a right hook to the monster's jaw.
"Loud and clear." Scarlet Spider responded as he delivered a kick to a soldier's chest.
"Affirmative." Iron Knight said as he projected a shield to block an onslaught of bullets.
"I can." X-23 piped up as she sliced a man's gun into pieces, before delivering a roundhouse kick to his head.
"You know it, beautiful." Kid Flash said from his cover spot.
"Shut up, Kid." Trickshot thought as he fired arrows from his vantage point.
"Little busy. Call back later! Click!" Robin thought as he landed in front of Shimmer, Sin, and Sportsmaster. "Hey there, Sporty. Desperate for cash after your fantasy league bombed?" He taunted.
"Just as mouthy as the last one." Sportsmaster spat out, and Sin turned to Shimmer.
"Kill him. Painfully." She ordered, and Shimmer nodded as Robin got ready for a fight…
"Robin, now!" Aqualad's voice yelled in his head, and Robin sighed. As Shimmer charged at him, he threw down a smoke bomb, vanishing by the time Shimmer reached him. Back in the facility, Kid Flash and Iron Knight cleared a path back to the tunnel, while Superboy managed to grab one of Mammoth's punches and throw him into a group of soldiers. Crossbones opened fire on them, only to take cover from a series of arrows from Trickshot. When Robin arrived, they all poured into the tunnel, Superboy quickly shutting the door behind them. For all the good it did, as Mammoth smashed through the door to allow Crossbones and his men to enter, allowing them to open fire on the team. "Superboy, Scarlet, the supports!"
"On it!" Scarlet called out as he and Superboy both punched a support, causing the entrance into the path to cave in, bathing them all in darkness.
"Knight?"
"On it." Nolan adjusted the brightness of his chest repulsor, illuminating them all in a dim blue light. "So… that could've gone better."
"Where'd Bane go?" Robin asked.
"I lost track of him when the fighting started." X-23 stated.
"It's my fault." Kid Flash said, drawing their attention to him sulking in the corner. "We wouldn't have gotten into all this if I hadn't run my mouth and assumed I was the leader. If it wasn't for me, we'd already be on our way home. It's just… what Roy said really got to me, y'know? Even after the Mister Twister thing, all I could hear was his voice telling me that the League will never accept us. So, when we found out about Hydra..."
"... you thought you'd prove him wrong once and for all." Robin finished. "Trust me man, I know all about trying to prove yourself. Hell, you know what it's like being the follow up to Dick Grayson? 'Big shoes' doesn't even begin to describe it. You look for every chance, every opportunity to prove yourself, and you take it without even thinking it through. I've been there."
"It's not your fault, Wally. Whole thing was a mess from the get-go. How were we supposed to know Hydra and Sin were involved?" Trickshot said.
"If I may?" Kaldur asked, as he stepped forward. "Beyond Hydra, beyond Bane, we were compromised from the beginning. Our lack of a clear chain of command, of a leader, is what lead to our downfall." He stated, and KF and Trickshot engaged a glance.
"What're we even doing? It's obvious that Kaldur should be leader." Trickshot said.
"100% agree. We wouldn't have made it out of Cadmus if it wasn't for him." Kid Flash agreed, causing Aqualad's eyes to widen.
"I'm more than okay with that." Scarlet Spider piped in.
"Thought it was obvious." Iron Knight agreed.
"Even I coulda told you that." Superboy commented.
"Hello, Megan! Why didn't I see it sooner?"
"There's no one I'd rather follow into battle."
Kaldur looked around at the team, and saw how they were all looking at him. No doubt, no second guessing, only complete confidence, trust, and faith in him.
"Very well, I accept." The new Team leader stated. "Now, we need a plan."
Back at the helipad, Sportsmaster was trying to get his helicopter started to little avail. "It's no use. Boy Wonder must've sabotaged it." The mercenary said to Sin, who scowled.
"Meddlesome pests…" She muttered to herself, as Crossbones approached her.
"No sign of Bane or the brats. Want me to take a search party out looking for them?"
"No need. If these brats are anything like their mentors, they will come to us soon enough."
Not too far away, Kaldur lead the team out of the tunnel through the entrance. "We know what must be done. Now, let's-"
"Ahahah, niños." Bane's voice said, and they saw the masked man holding a detonator.
"Huh, we wondered where you had slinked off to." Trickshot stated.
"I am afraid this is where our partnership ends, children." Bane said, and the team looked up to see several C-4 charges lining the entrance.
"Really? You're doing this now?" Scarlet Spider asked. "You really think killing us will get you your island back?"
"Si. After all, when the Justice League learns that their precious sidekicks have perished, they'll come here and wipe Hydra off the face of the planet. Leaving me free to-" Before Bane could finish talking, Kid Flash zoomed by and yanked the detonator out of his hand, and Superboy clotheslined him, knocking him out.
"Oh thank god. I was worried we were going to let him prattle on." Robin said, and Aqualad looked at them.
"We all know the plan. Let's go."
Back at the helipad, Sin, Crossbones, and Sportsmaster watched as the helicopter's blades began to spin. "Ma'am, the helicopter is operational again!"
"Excellent. Sportsmaster, we should be going." Sin instructed. Right as she said that, however, a black blur zoomed past and knocked down the soldiers flanking them, Kid Flash firing off a wink before zooming off again, as an arrow flew out and separated into an electrified net, knocking out another group.
"They're back!" Crossbones growled out, as Superboy touched down in front of them, leaving a small crater.
"Hey, ugly. Ready for round 2?" He taunted at Mammoth, who just roared and charged at them. However, just as he was about to reach him, Scarlet Spider shot out of the wood and delivered a punch to Mammoth's jaw, before Aqualad used a burst of water to knock the beast backward.
"Sorry, not the plan." Superboy said as he turned to the helicopter only to be fired on by Sportsmaster with a modified ray gun knocking him backward. As he pushed them back, a cloaked Miss Martian flew over to the copter and set a small device down before attempting to attack from behind Sportsmaster.
He however dodged and seized her for behind to use as a sort of human shield. "This ain't my first time dancin' with a Martian!" Just as he opened fire again however he was hit in the shoulder gripping her by an arrow forcing him to lose his grip.
"Let her go." Trickshot said firing on the man again who began to return fire on all of them.
Meanwhile, Aqualad had Mammoth backed away from the helicopter and the team with a continuing stream of water. Deciding they were far enough away he called through the link up
'Now!'
Scarlet Spider Iron Knight shot two bioelectric weblines and several taser lines at Mammoth respectively. Combined with the water the monster let out a roar and then fell over unconscious.
"About time you stopped shocking yourself." The Stark complimented, a bit of mockery in there.
"What can I say," the webhead brushed his hands together after a job well done, "mastery takes time to build."
Meanwhile, Crossbones was opening fire on a rapidly dodging Kid Flash. Who swooped in under one shot and slammed him with an uppercut staggering him. Crossbones proceeded after Kid Flash as Robin and X-23 landed in front of Sin and Shimmer.
"Now really ask yourselves, do you even want to try?" Robin challenged.
The redheaded woman in question gave her hair a casual flick out of her eyes; "The real question, little bird, is can you beat me before I kill you?" She asked giving the universal sign for bring it on to both of them.
They charged in and she seemed to dance between them slamming a foot into Robin's ribs and a fist into X-23's gut. Then Shimmer slammed into X-23's face knocking her backwards.
"I guess I've got this one." X-23 said dodging Shimmers next shot and slashing at her leg.
"It's okay, I can handle discount Red Skull." Robin said managing to avoid her attacks as she just smirked at him.
"Or maybe you'll die trying." She breathed going back on the offensive.
Back in the battle with SportsMaster the team was finding themselves on the back foot. The wound in his shoulder seemed to only make him more aggressive. He had kept Superboy at bay with a barrage of blasts.
Trickshot barely avoided a few of the blasts himself before jumping and firing another electric net arrow. Sportsmaster in response pulled M'gann in front of himself pushing her into the net and then kicking her at Superboy.
"Thanks for the work out kids, but I've gotta fly." He said as hen ran into the helicopter and began to take off into the night as Trickshot helped his friends disentangle from the net. They all looked up and then smirked at each other.
"Megs, the honor is yours." Trickshot stated, and Miss Martian held up her hand with a detonator in it, before she pushed the button.
The previously attached explosives Sportsmaster hadn't noticed went off. He braced staring back into the fire. "Ah Hell…" Knowing he had no other choice, he grabbed a vial and leapt out of the helicopter parachuting into the woods below.
The helicopter spun in at an angle, and as they watched it crash into the factory, the whole place went up in a shower of fire and debris.
-Kid Flash and Crossbones-
Kid avoided several of Crossbones shots, landing several strikes, and knocking Crossbones onto the ground and twisting his mask. The mercenary grunted as he pulled it off, and noticed the factory going up in flames. "Dammit!" He cursed and looked at Sin, who was holding her own against Robin. She was knocked back by one of his kicks, but did a handspring and landed near Crossbones. "Boss, we ain't winnin' this one!" Her lackey advised, and the daughter of the Red Skull looked around. Mammoth and Shimmer were both unconscious, Iron Knight and Aqualad had finished off the rest of her soldiers, and the Team began to circle her.
"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." She growled at them, as Crossbones threw out a smoke grenade. "This isn't over…" Her voice warned, and when the smoke cleared, the two were gone.
"Shall I track them?" Laura asked, and Kaldur shook his head.
"No. They cannot run far. Their time will come." The Team leader stated, and Kid Flash smirked as he picked up Crossbone's discarded mask.
"Anyone else feel like a souvenir? No? Just me?" He asked, as Trickshot went to Kaldur.
"Hey man, you did great out there. Your strategy went off without a hitch. Now I know for a fact we made the right choice." The archer said, and the team all nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, my friends. I will do my best to honor the choice you have made." The Atlantean stated.
"And, as our fearless leader, you get the esteemed task of explaining all this to Batman." And with that, Kaldur's eyes widened.
"Are you sure no one else wants the job? Kid? Francis?… Superboy?"
July 23, 0023 EST
"To recap: your mission to Santa Prisca was to observe and report only. That means get in, see what's going on, get out. It's hard to get more simple than that." The Team was arranged in a line, Batman walking down the line as he spoke, Captain America was standing behind them with his arms crossed, not saying anything, but the look on his face said it all. "Instead, you blew your cover almost immediately, shoved yourselves into the middle of a civil war, almost got yourselves all killed while bickering over who's in charge, and almost set off an international incident. And that's just off the top of my head." The Dark Knight scolded, stopping in front of Aqualad. "You will all get a written evaluation detailing your many, MANY failures. Until then… good job." This caused Aqualad's eyes to widen, as similar expressions of surprise spread across the faces of the Team.
"You're… not mad?" Aqualad asked, and Captain America's face softened into a smile.
"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adapt and respond to the unexpected is what determines how successful you are." Cap stated. "Thanks to the information you gathered, we now know that Sin is trying to regroup her father's organization, and that someone thought the Blockbuster/Venom hybrid was the way to do it."
"Not to mention that, because of your actions, production of Venom, both Hydra and regular, has been drastically reduced for the foreseeable future." Batman reassured.
"And the bad guys?" Kid Flash asked
"They'll slip up. They always do. And when they do, we'll be there." Captain America reassured. "Now hit the showers. You've all done great."
Undisclosed Location
Sportsmaster stood in front of the eight silhouettes that formed The Light, holding a single vial of Hydra Venom. "This is the only remaining sample of Hydra Venom I was able to recover. Everything else was destroyed in the explosion." He reported.
"No matter. The original formula can always be recreated and improved upon." L-8 stated. "What concerns me is the presence of these sidekicks."
"I concur. First Cadmus, then Mister Twister, and now this. Coincidence, or some cosmic joke?" The female voice of L-6 asked.
"No. Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Third is enemy action. And enemies of the Light must not stand." The ageless voice of L-1 growled out.
"I agree. These children are already becoming quite the nuisance." The german accented voice of L-3 agreed. "Fear not. We already have several plans in place to deal with them."
A/N: And with that, another chapter comes to close! Things may seem pretty identical to the show for now, but I promise we've got some fun, orignal stuff comin' down the pipeline. Til next time!
