MALINA ISLAND
JANUARY 6TH 2016 20:47 HAST
Mariposa and Waspia crawled across a linear support beam over the metal walkways that the Kroloteans had constructed near the large spaceship, and Mariposa slipped down from the beam onto the metal catwalk just below them, landing in a crouch to try and keep her arrival as quiet as possible. Waspia was quick to follow, and Mariposa gave her a quick nod as a symbol that they needed to split up. The Batfamily had decided to scout the other half of the Island Stronghold, leaving the two of them to gather information however they saw fit between them.
Waspia gave a nod in acknowledgment and then took off down the catwalk. It was a strange dichotomy, the relationship that Mariposa and Waspia had versus Betty and Aunt Melody. Aunt Melody was her boss at work and had been the one to raise her for the most part, leaving Betty to defer to Aunt Melody in their civilian life. But as Mariposa, despite Aunt Melody being older and a member of the Justice League, Waspia still let Mariposa take the lead between them. Maybe it was a force of habit, maybe it was because of the extra years of experience that Mariposa had.
Mariposa rushed down the catwalk, and she stopped just short of a group of Krolotean's gathered around what looked like a computer monitor, hidden behind the white and red rocket in the center of the mountain. She crouched down to watch, and she narrowed her eyes as she spotted the men of Black Manta walking around as guards.
One of the Kroloteans said something to another, but their language sounded like little more than a series of clicks to Mariposa. She knew two of them down there were a disguised Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter, but the two's shapeshifting came with no clues to who they were. One of Black Manta's men looked up to where Mariposa was, and she shifted to hide behind a metal pipe, rising back to standing.
She sucked in a breath on instinct, as even after doing recon for years, the adrenaline of it all never really went away. She still felt a string of a excitement and nerves whenever she was near exposure, and she wondered if it would ever really go away. Mariposa cast a look over the side of the pipe, her pigtails flipping over her shoulder and resting against her back.
The guard was no longer looking her way, and she felt the tense tightness in her shoulders relax. She once again focused her gaze on the Kroloteans, trying to use their body language and tone to try and decipher what it is they were saying. They seemed to be miffed and in hurry, what would be their shoulders tight and their faces pulled into frantic frowns. Mariposa knew they would be trying their hardest to get out of dodge thanks to the revelation of their existence and their sting attack on them, but their was something else to them. A kind of worry and discontentment to them as they tried to rush out as fast they could.
"Intruders!" Mariposa's blood ran cold as the voice rang out, even though she had been expecting it. They had taken out one of their guard posts after all, that was going to be noticed. Besides, it was Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter's main objective to get recon, her and the others were to get what they could but mostly act as a distraction. "On land, and in the water!"
Mariposa jumped into action, revealing herself and pulling a stinger out of her utility belt. The stingers no longer matched the idea of a honeybee and instead were just holdovers from her days as Honeybee, as she had become so proficient in using them that it seemed a waste to change her weapon just for her name change. And as long as they worked, Mariposa didn't see a problem with it. The stinger, it's charge changed from EMP to explosives, landed next to two of the Black Manta guards. It went off with a click and they were sent flying back, along with one of the Kroloteans rapidly typing away on the computer in front of them. They were most likely trying to wipe the computer to keep them from getting any information from it.
She squinted beneath her mask and jumped over the railing of the catwalk and used her propulsion to kick one of Black Manta's guard square in the face. The landed on their back, the gun falling from their hand. Mariposa took the opportunity to kick far away so they couldn't reach it and raced past the Kroloteans to where two of Manta's guards were pointing their guns at her.
"You guys wanna play a game?" Mariposa taunted, rushing at them. She dodged a laser strike aimed directly at her and smiled, landing in front of them. "It's called Catch the Butterfly. Let's see if you're any good at it."
Mariposa ducked to dodge a punch directed at her, and she jumped up, aiming a right hook for under their chin. It didn't do much to them, considering their rather extensive black metal armor, but it was enough to catch them off guard. She raised her arm to block a hit from the second one and gripped onto their arm with her other hand. She pulled them forward and twisted their arm around so that it pulled their body backward. She braced their arm around their chest and then kicked them in the back, sending them flying into the other guard in front of her.
A Krolotean screeched loudly, tone authoritative, and then from above came the sound of metal scratching against metal. Mariposa looked up to see giant mecha robots with six legs and cannons jumping from the side of the rocket down to the cavern below. Mariposa's eyes widened and she brought a hand to her ear.
"Waspia, I could use some help over here!" Mariposa said.
"Coming!"
Mariposa took out two stingers and rushed the mecha headed directly her way. She flipped over top of them, flinging the stingers into the heart of the cannon's barrel. The stingers went off, casting the mecha into being covered with purple electric shocks. The EMP stopped the robot and caused it to plop to the hard ground with a loud clunk.
Mariposa eyes casted up, and she saw Waspia standing in front of the now motionless mecha. Waspia jutted her lip out in a pout and put her hands on her hips.
"Why call for help if you can handle it by yourself?" Waspia jokingly asked, and Mariposa just grinned back in return. Mariposa then furrowed her brow as she saw a mecha behind Waspia and Waspia seemed to catch on, because she turned around, her own stingers poised and ready for attack.
"Mariposa, maneuver six!"
Mariposa nodded and pulled out two stingers, each one set to be an explosive charge. She ran towards the mecha at the same time that Waspia jumped with a flip over top of the mecha, the mecha's cannon instinctively followed the older woman. With the cannon distracted, Mariposa was able to approach it undetected, and she transitioned into a slide, going beneath the mecha and planting them on the bottom metal of the mecha. Mariposa trusted that Waspia had landed her two stingers in the barrel of the cannon.
Mariposa slid out from beneath the mecha just in time for it to explode, and Waspia landed next to her. Mariposa twisted around in a crouch, watching as the mecha blew up before her eyes.
Mariposa smiled to herself and then looked over to the side, where she saw a Black Manta guard start to run back, a hand raised to where their ear would be, as if giving a order through an earpiece. She frowned and started to make her way towards him when she heard Nightwing in her ear.
"Nightwing to Delta Squad. Enemy is attempting escape. Requesting back-up."
Mariposa glanced up to see two laser beams cut through the side of the mountain, revealing Superman carrying Superboy by one arm and Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl following after them. Mariposa didn't have much time to focus on the arrival of her best friend and the others, as another mecha started to be headed her way.
She growled under her breath and stood, raising her arm to throw her stingers up to attack the mecha. She was prevented, however, from throwing it as Superboy landed in between her and the mecha. He raised a fist and knocked it down onto the top of the cannon, before kicking it out of the way and backwards so that it landed on it's back with a crunch.
"Quadruple, nice!" Superman said, floating in a space beside Mariposa. Mariposa looked over her shoulder to see three destroyed mecha droids on the ground of the cavern, in various states of ruin and disarray. Most likely they had done what they considered a 'triple combo', where Superboy was flung by Superman to attack three different opponents. It seemed he had added one on this time.
"I had that one, you know," Mariposa commented, only half-serious. Superboy gave a smile.
"Can't let you have all the fun," Superboy returned. Mariposa rolled her eyes and sprung back into action, seeing a mecha out of the corner of her eye. She moved a little to the side to avoid a cannon blast directed her way and then preformed a hand-spring to land on top of the mecha. She stuck three EMP stingers onto the top of the mecha and then quickly jumped off, leaving the mecha droid to fall with purple sparks flying out of the side.
Mariposa looked for another mecha, but was stunned into silence, rooted to her spot on the cavern floor as she stared at the scene just a few yards away from her. One of Black Manta's guards had been attacked by what looked like Aquaman or Lagoon Boy, causing his helmet to fall off, revealing the face beneath, and that face was the reason that Mariposa remained frozen where she stood.
It was Kaldur.
Betty hadn't wanted to believe that their once fearless leader was now a minion of Black Manta. But after the fallout from Tula dying on a mission a little over a year ago and the discovery Black Manta was Kaldur's father, Kaldur had….broke somehow. He had cracks and scars that refused to scab over, leaving what had once been a great hero and a leader to nothing more than a vicious follower of his villainous father.
Betty blinked beneath her mask, and brought a hand to her chest. Despite the proof in front of her, she still did not want this to be true. It couldn't be true. It just wasn't right. Kaldur was one of her oldest and dearest friends, and a fiercely loyal one at that. It…..it simply wasn't possible that Kaldur would betray them all like this.
"I had not believed Nightwing until this moment," Aqualad said, stunned.
"You did not want to believe!" Kaldur spit. Mariposa stepped forward at the same moment Superboy did, and Superboy frowned at their old friend.
"None of us wanted to believe this!" Superboy retorted.
"How could you betray us?" Mariposa asked, much softer than Superboy had been. Less angry than Superboy, more hurt than angered.
"You dare question me?" Kaldur called, using his waterbearers to create two swords made out of water and magic. "When you all let Tula die!"
Mariposa shut her eyes. Tula had died not so long after Jason had, her hologram put up in the grotto next to him. Tula's death had been a noble sacrifice, and the memory of Aquagirl was one that the Team would not let die. But she had been Kaldur's oldest friend, and he had taken the death much harder than the rest of them for that reason.
She just hadn't expected his grief to lead him here.
"Kaldur, that was mission!" Nightwing defended, stepping out from the shadows. "Aquagirl knew the risks, no one wanted her to –"
"Neptune's Beard!" Lagoon Boy cut off. He grimaced at Kaldur with all the anger he could muster from the deepest part of him. "Don't coddle this traitor! He has joined forces with our King's greatest enemy!"
Kadlur raised a brow and raised a sword to point at Aquaman.
"Do you mean the king that hid from me the true identity of my father?" Kaldur accused. Aquaman looked at Kadlur, ashamed, and reached out a hand to reason with him.
"That was my error in judgement, Kaldur'ahm. No one else need suffer for it."
"All will suffer if Black Manta demands it," Kaldur said, deadly quiet. From the shoulder of his armor rose up a small explosive projectile. "Blood is thicker than seawater."
Kaldur let the projectile fly, and Mariposa readied herself to jump out of the way when Superman appeared in front of them. He took the brunt of the explosion, keeping it from hitting them. The explosion still went off, covering them in all in dark smoke. Thankfully, Mariposa's mask had a night vision feature built in (courtesy of Batman) and she saw the figures of Nightwing and Kaldur disappear down a hole in the wall of cavern.
"Come on!" Mariposa whispered, and Superboy followed after her in the smoke, and the two fell down the hole in the cavern. Mariposa slid down in the darkness, thankful the slight night vision filter in her mask kept her from being in total darkness. Mariposa knew that Superboy's advanced senses kept him from being in total darkness, and she was grateful for his presence. It would be easier to confront Kaldur with him by her side.
"Are we alone?" Mariposa heard Kaldur say to someone, most likely Nightwing. Superboy growled, and the two of them popped out of the hole, landing on their feet, side-by-side.
"No, it's a regular reunion special!" Superboy answered for Nightwing, who stood in the corner. Mariposa frowned at Kaldur, arms up and poised to fight. Kaldur may be a prime warrior thanks to his years training under the King of Atlantis, but there was no way he could take all three of them at once. All it would take was one of them throwing him off balance, and then they could –
"Fine," Aqualad said, and then he grinned wickedly, and motioned to a strange black device on the side one of the rocket's tail fins. "You can take me down, or you can save everyone from this bomb. I am told the yield is quiet…..impressive."
Superboy let out a yell and rushed Kaldur, fully expecting to tackle him to the ground. Kaldur was faster, however, pinning Superboy to the floor by the neck. Kaldur sent an electric shock through the arm of his metal suit. Conner yelled out in pain and Betty reacted on instinct, racing forward towards Kaldur and Conner.
"Conner!" Betty cried. Betty raised a fist to hit Kaldur, but he swerved to avoid it. He let go of Conner in the process, and Mariposa let out a low sound of frustration.
"You have two minutes," Kaldur told them calmly, and then disappeared into the lake of water next to the pad the rocket rested on. Mariposa turned on her heel and reached out a hand to Superboy, who was starting to stand up. He took her hand and Mariposa helped pull back to standing height as Nightwing rushed past them to the bomb, and Mariposa looked over Superboy one time to make sure that he was okay.
Mariposa knew that Superboy was almost practically indestructible. A little electricity would do nothing to him in the long run, even if it hurt him in the moment. But still…..he was her best friend. And seeing him in pain filled her with dread and worry. The kind of dread and worry that isn't always rational and acted in ways that she couldn't explain. A kind of dread she reserved only for the most important people in her life.
Mariposa shook her head and turned to Nightwing. Many of her important people were above her at the moment, and they would be destroyed by this bomb if she and the others didn't act quickly.
"They're getting away. We'll stop them!" Lagoon Boy said in the comn link, but Nightwing quickly shut him down.
"Negative. We have a bomb down here. Alien tech, I cannot disarm it."
"I'll get it out of here," Superboy suggested, stepping forward to take it.
"No!" Nightwing quickly dismissed. "Could have pressure or motion sensers or something."
Mariposa pulled out an EMP stinger.
"What about a stinger, could that work?"
"It's alien tech, might make it worse," Nightwing mused. He raised a hand to his ear. "All squads, evacuate to Bioship. Now."
Superboy, Mariposa, and Nightwing quickly made their way through the cavern to where Bioship sat waiting outside. It was already filled with most of the other heroes that had accompanied them, including the recently retransformed Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter and Mariposa quickly found a seat once she arrived. Miss Martian sat at the controls, primed and ready to take off at a moment's notice.
"Wait, where's Superman?" Superboy asked, brow furrowed in worry.
"We have to go now," Miss Martian insisted. "If we don't, we will all die."
She sighed, giving Superboy a sympathetic look, but then raised Bioship to take off. Mariposa gripped on to her seat tight as the bomb went off at the same time, sending them propelled forward. The ship was overtaken by the orange light of the bomb going off, and Mariposa was sent pushed back against her seat. Mariposa could hear the sound of some members of their party be blasted back into the ship's walls, and she heard the sound of Conner groaning in pain again.
She almost looked over her shoulder, but the force of the blast kept her eyes closed and forced her to focus on keeping herself upright and from falling off the seat, despite the belt that was strapped across her chest. Mariposa might have her issues with Miss Martian, but she still had faith in her to pilot the ship out of the explosion. Miss Martian had a connection to Bioship, and she could pilot it better than anyone else in the world.
Miss Martian piloted them out of the explosions blast zone, and Mariposa finally opened her eyes. She found they were no longer entrapped by the bright light of the explosion, but she could smell the crater of smoke that was coming from the former volcano. She frowned as they turned around for Superman, and she got a good look at the destruction in front of them.
Even if the Kroloteans were invading her home, it still was a terrible sight to see them seemingly decimated like that. That was most likely why Superman had bee missing from their evacuation party – trying to rescue the remaining Kroloteans from the bomb. They had seemingly no knowledge of it being there, and that meant they most likely hadn't gotten out in time. So many of them had….died.
Mariposa sighed and looked away.
She wondered if it ever got easier, to see the destruction that this mission sometimes leave behind.
"No one had ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." - 1 John 4:12
It's been awhile, but I've really been in a slump the past few weeks and then had many assignments due at the same time. This chapter is really short, but I wanted to get something out before the end of the year. It's unlikely I'll see y'all again before the end of the year, so Happy 2022 everyone!
I hope y'all are all having a great day, and let me know of any questions, comments, or concerns!
- PrincessChess