Chapter 10
A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back! Hope y'all're enjoying the story so far. Anyways, remember, I'm just the writer, Emerald belongs to Sil Vaturha 98, and the other characters are products of their producers.
/comms/
Telepathy/Flashbacks
'Bee talking
Central City, July 9, 13:28CDT
"It's nice to have a day off," Emerald sighed as she sat in her civies outside a café, sipping a cup of iced tea, "especially after the past few days."
"Way to brag Erica," Wally muttered.
Raising a brow, the redhead looked to her cousin, "And what am I bragging about?"
"Please! You and 'Bee got to fight zombies in space! Do you know how awesome that is?!"
"Uh, Wally, technically we were just driving off Megatron's cannon fodder. The zombies didn't even make it to the other end of the spacebridge before we blew it up," 'Bee corrected, rolling his eyes.
"But still, why is it you guys get to do the awesome stuff?!"
"Because they can survive in the void of space," Robin deadpanned. "Anyways," he reached into his red jacket, pulling out a polaroid, "check this out."
"So…who are we looking at here?" Wally drawled.
"Her name is Selena Gonzalez."
"And we care why?" the speedster asked crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair, "Other than the fact she's hot?"
"She's here, in Central City, and she's being targeted for a hit," Robin answered. "There's a reason, but I don't know what it is yet. But I did find something I think might be related to her."
Sitting up in his chair, Aqualad leaned forwards, "Related how?"
"Looking through some of Batman's files, I found that there've been a few targets, seemingly unrelated. However, I've cross-referenced tons of data and I think I found a pattern."
"Wait!" Wally interrupted. "Looking through? You mean you hacked Batman's files!"
Erica slapped her hand over her cousin's mouth as she glanced towards the other groups around them. "How about you say it louder and announce it to the whole word dummy?"
"Sorry."
"Anyways," Robin started, "I think this CEO might be next. All of these hits have been made to look like accidents, muggings gone wrong, things like that."
"And you figured we could look into it," 'Bee concluded. "But still, what brought this to your attention in the first place?"
"I've been looking into Cadmus the past few days—between the world-ending events—the corporate holdings, who they do business with, and all that. I noticed a few people they've done business with have had some unexpected accidents."
"You want us to look into a hunch that someone might've put a hit on this CEO? Cool!"
There was the sound of another smack as Erica slapped her hand back over the speedster's mouth. "Ok, no more talking from you." Behind her hand, Wally scowled and Erica yelped, yanking her hand away. "Did you just lick my hand?!"
"Stop slapping it over my face!"
"Only if you stop being stupid!"
"What about Superboy and Miss Martian?" Aqualad spoke up, ignoring the arguing teens.
Robin grimaced, rubbing the back of his head, "We don't want to get them in trouble before the Team even gets going. Besides, we haven't even had a real outing as a team yet anyways."
"Dude, the team was literally officially formed last night. Of course we haven't done anything yet," 'Bee pointed out. "And it's not like we just spent the last few days dealing with a 'Con Crisis."
"C'mon guys! Let's do this! It could be fun!" Wally grinned. "We could…think of it as a training exercise or something. We haven't had one of those as a team yet."
"Because the team was formed yesterday," Erica reminded.
"And," Aqualad chimed in, "if we are thinking of this as a training exercise, then why are Superboy and Miss Martian not here? They are part of the team are they not?"
"Yeah," Robin conceded. "But, we've been around longer than they have and we haven't had much interaction with each other on the field. We're always doing our own crime-fighting thing with our own mentors. I figured this would be a chance for us to kind of clear the cobwebs before we get into full team mode."
"Cobwebs?" Wally scoffed. "You've been hanging out in dark caves too much."
"Says the guy who hissed like a vampire when I opened the windows after you spent eight hours playing video games," Erica snickered.
"Em!"
"Still…I am not sure about this," Aqualad admitted.
"I am!" the speedster exclaimed. "Count me in! Hey, you think Selena likes younger guys?"
"I'm gonna go with no."
"Killjoy."
"So Rob, how do we know all these accidents are hits put out on these people? And if they are, what makes you think they're related?" Erica inquired.
"Yeah! Who do you think's behind all this?!"
"Behind it? Hard to tell," Robin confessed. "It could be Cadmus, but none of the evidence points to them. But, I have an idea on who was hired to do the job."
"Care to tell us?"
The Boy Wonder smirked, "The League of Shadows."
Wally almost choked on his coffee. "Whoa! Really?!"
"Yeah, I think these accidents were executed by them."
Bumblebee leaned back in his chair, "Depending on the order, it would fit the M.O. If the client wanted someone dead but didn't want it connected to them, then staging an accident or a crime gone wrong would point suspicion in a different direction. Essentially the cops would be chasing their tails and the perpertraitors would get off scott free," he shrugged, "It's at least how I'd do it."
"…I have to ask," Aqualad spoke up, "Who is the League of Shadows?"
"What?! You've never heard of them?" Wally gaped in shock. "Have you been living in a cave or something?"
"More like underwater."
"Oh…yeah."
"Anyways, to answer your question," Erica said, "The League of Shadows is a deadly organization with their dirty hands stuck in a whole bunch of shady stuff worldwide. Killing is only part of the business they do."
"Allegedly," Wally chimed in, "nothing ever seems to get proven against them."
Aqualad sighed, rubbing his temples, "So, just to reiterate: You want the five of us to look into what may or may not be a sanctioned assassination attempt on this CEO, carried out by a covert organization called the League of Shadows, without the aid of our other teammates and without the authorization of Batman or the rest of the League?"
"Yeah pretty much."
"Sounds about right!"
"Why do I feel like this is gonna be Cadmus all over again?" Emerald muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Probably because it's going to be."
-.-
19:54CDT
"Why is she still at work?" Kid Flash grumbled, stuffing another handful of chips into his mouth. "Everyone else went home hours ago."
"Could you not chew so loud?" Robin muttered holding his binoculars.
"At this point I wish he could feed with a filter system much like a humpback whale. It would not be as nauseating to watch," Aqualad grimaced.
"If he did that then he'd never shut up."
"Ha ha, very funny," the speedster replied as he swallowed the chips and reached in for another handful.
"Could you please keep it down?" Robin grumbled.
"With what? My voice or chewing?"
"Both!" Emerald snapped, snatching the bag of chips away from her cousin. "I'm surprised all of China doesn't know we're here!"
"I can't help it. I'm bored! And, I need to eat! You know my metabolism Em!" he argued. "We've been sitting for hours. Do you know how hard that is for me to do?! She's been in that building all day. All of the employees are gone and she's all alone. If they were going to attack wouldn't they have done it by now?"
"No," 'Bee replied. "Actually, I would wait a little longer if this was one of my jobs. Make sure there are no potential witnesses walking in the other buildings. It would also take some time to gather enough footage to set the cameras on a feedback loop. I'd also want to cut the power and any communication abilities off, make sure it's harder for the target to escape and call for help."
"And how can you be so sure Einstein?!"
"Because I've done my fair share of assassinations, and," 'Bee pointed across, "I bet that's what he's doing right now."
"Who?"
"I see him," Robin agreed.
"Dudes, I don't see anything."
Sighing, Emerald grabbed her cousin's head and pushed it down as she pointed, "There, below the window."
Following her gesture, he spotted the figure of a dark-suited person crawling up the wall like Spider-Man. Grinning, the two gingers shot down the skyscraper, racing towards their target. Despite the fact she could fly, KF still beat Emerald to the assassin.
"Hey ninja dude—!" he started before he was cut off with a yelp as the speedster's legs ended up stuck together.
"Name's Black Spider, fast dude."
Firing a beam at him, the assassin leapt out of the way firing webs, smacking Emerald in the face. Blinded by the sticky material, the girl grit her teeth as she tried to pry it off.
"And you need to be faster than that," the assassin snickered.
She heard another thwip of Black Spider's web-shooters followed by Robin's familiar laugh. "Missed!"
"Did I?"
"Look out!" Wally yelled.
Growling, Emerald's ring glowed brighter as the light burned the webbing away from her eyes. Looking down, she shot towards the ground as Robin and Kid fell. Catching the falling pair, she set them on the ground. "That went well."
"Yeah, we so didn't take that guy down," Wally grimaced.
"No," Robin agreed, "just the opposite: he took us down."
"And Hook is the one who's gonna take you out," a new voice turned. Whipping around the trio stared as a tall white-haired man with a massive metal silver hook stood before them, an unconscious Aqualad in hand. Before they could process, the hook, with Aqualad attached to it, went flying at them.
A green shield formed between them and Emerald winced as Aqualad slammed against the barrier. That was so going to hurt later. "Sorry Kaldur."
"Dude! This is getting out of hand," Robin griped.
"We're gonna take down this clown—" KF started before he was cut off.
"I'm going to help Rob," Emerald interjected. "You are going to make sure the target's out of danger before the spider-psycho gets there!"
"What about—?"
A bright sword cut through the sticky webs like butter as Emerald held the glowing weapon. "Go!"
"Looks like it's just you and me, kiddies," Hook grinned.
Robin smirked, reaching into his belt, "I don't think so."
"We'll see about—" Robin tossed the bombs from his belt, sending plumes of smoke into the air surrounding them. "That?"
Despite the cover, the natural glow of her suit and ring made it difficult for the Lantern to stay hidden. But, that didn't mean she wasn't more than capable of distracting Captain Hook until Robin launched his attack.
The metal object—now free of her friend's unconscious form—slammed into her shield. A grin spread across her face as the shield changed forms at her will, the coils of the rope lacing themselves through the metal chain. Yanking on the chain, Emerald heard the man yelp and she watched him soar overhead and crash into the building wall.
"EM!" Wally shouted as he blasted through the door.
"What?!" she snapped turning to face her cousin.
"We have a problem!"
"Did the spider guy—?"
The speedster shook his head quickly. "No, I got there at the same time he did. But she's not there!"
"What do you mean…" Emerald trailed off, looking over the fight, "'Bee."
"'Bee what're you—" Kid Flash grunted as the metal hook slammed into his gut, slamming the speedster into the wall. His impact formed a crater in the concrete, and he fell to the ground unconscious as Robin rolled to his feet beside her.
"Em! Maneuver 63!" he called.
"Maneuver what?!" she asked, already shooting towards their enemy.
Said enemy then ducked and caused the two proteges to collide midair. Falling to the ground, they gave each other annoyed looks. "What were you doing?"
"Me?! I'm not Batman, I don't know what maneuver that is!" she retorted rolling out of the way of the hook as it crashed onto where they'd been previously lying.
"No duh! Where's 'Bee?! He hasn't been shot through a wall!"
"Probably doing what we couldn't," she replied yelping as webs hit her in the back and she was tossed into the wall.
"Emerald!" Robin called turning away from the assassin as he fired his hook, hitting the Boy Wonder in the face.
As he skid along the ground, out cold, Emerald grimaced as she looked at the two assassins. "Scrap."
-.-
22:12CDT
Erica's head throbbed. It felt like she'd sparred with Kilowag again. Around her, she could hear what sounded like distorted mumbling, grimacing, the Lantern winced as it made her head ache more. It felt like she was hanging upside down or something. But why…
Remembering what happened, her eyes snapped open as she looked up—or well down. Like she thought, Emerald was tied upside down along with Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash.
"Em? Are you up?" Robin whispered.
"Yeah," she replied, wincing at the raspiness of her own voice.
"Good, cause we have good news, and bad news," Aqualad spoke as the assassins looked up at them.
"Alright sidekicks, I'll admit I'm impressed," Black Spider spoke putting his hands on his hips, "but fun time's over! Where's Selena Gonzalez?!"
"Look kids, you can't stop us, we're professionals at what we do!" Hook snarled.
"Yeah," Kid Flash snickered, "professional hit men for the League of Shadows sent to kill an innocent woman!"
"I wouldn't go throwing around names like that if you knew what's good for you, Kid," Black Spider warned. For a moment, Emerald swore he sounded sympathetic.
She'd avoid blasting him through the next five walls at least. The idiots didn't take away her ring, and judging from Robin's wiggling beside her, they didn't take away his belt either. Some professionals they were turning out to be.
"So why are you after her?" Robin inquired.
"You're not in the position to ask any questions, boy," Hook hissed, raising his weapon. "But we are: How did you know we'd be here?"
Emerald smirked, "Well, some professionals you turned out to be. It wasn't that hard, I mean you've already made several vital mistakes."
The assassin scowled, "And what would those be, girly?"
"Simple," she grinned. A bright light came from under the webbing ensnaring them, exploding out with fragments of the material drifting to the floor as the four teens landed on their feet, "You didn't take our weapons, and…" her grin grew wider as she caught familiar blue eyes glowing from the shadows, "did you count how many of us there were?"
"What are you—" Hook shouted as he was knocked the ground, smoke coming off his back as a charred circle formed in his trench coat.
Black Spider whipped around, raising his fists as he looked between Bumblebee and the other teens. Beside him Hook got up, holding his injured shoulder as he looked towards his attacker. "So, you're the one who took the target."
Stepping out from the shadows, 'Bee made a show of cracking his knuckles, "Surrender and things won't get ugly. Your five friends on the outside already learned that lesson the hard way."
"Ha! Joke's on you hero! There were seven!"
Despite the mask covering the lower half of his face, Emerald could tell her friend was smirking. "Thanks."
"What are you—" Black Spider started before his partner growled, cutting him off.
"You idiot," Hook hissed raising his hands, looking ready to fight as he glanced between the heroes they stood between. "These kids are stalling us."
"You think?" Emerald scoffed, raising her ring as a green bubble appeared around the two assassins. "I wonder what gave you that idea?"
-.-
Central City Police Department, July 10, 01:30CDT
"I…I don't understand," Ms. Gonzalez murmured shaking her head as she sat on a couch in a break room, "I just run the company, why would they target me?"
"Ms. Gonzalez, have you ever heard of Cadmus?" Robin inquired.
The CEO's paused, brows furrowing as she looked up from the steaming cup of coffee in her hands, "The research facility? Yes. We have a vested business interest in them, just like we do with a hundred other companies…Are-are you saying from Cadmus is trying to kill me for doing business with them?"
"Not exactly," Emerald replied as she shared a glance with her friends. "More of someone who we believe is also invested in Cadmus, one who doesn't want their connections to…certain projects they were conducting to get out."
"Basically they don't like people who've worked with Cadmus cause they may know about their illegal activities," Kid Flash summarized.
"Illegal activities?" she sputtered, looking between the group of young heroes with wide eyes. "What? I swear, I didn't know anything about that! Our company was going to Cadmus to test the biomedical properties of a rare gem. I swear, if I'd known anything—"
"It's fine Ms. Gonzalez," Aqualad interrupted. "We promise, you aren't in any trouble, we just needed to clear a few facts; standard procedure. But, what you said, it does answer a few of our questions."
"It…it does?"
KF nodded, "Yeah, obviously we can't say what cause it's still an ongoing League investigation—ow!" the speedster yelped rubbing his arm from where Emerald elbowed him.
"Anyways," the Lantern picked up, "we've arranged a protective detail for you for the time being while this is going on. Hopefully that should deter anymore attacks until we get to the bottom of this."
"Thank you," she sighed.
"One more question," 'Bee spoke up, crossing his arms. "A gem? Why test that?"
"Well, it was more to observe its chemical effects on genes. See a crew of ours breaking ground for a new facility in India accidently uncovered a small deposit of this gem. And from what we've seen, the element it's composed of, it doesn't appear to be on our periodic table, but…it radiates this energy."
"Radiation?" Robin inquired.
"Perhaps," Ms. Gonzalez nodded. "That's why we sent it to Cadmus, to see if it could be identified or if it was safe to work with. If was safe, we thought this could be a new source of sustainable energy or even see if it has biomedical properties."
"And I'm guessing it was a bright blue?"
"Yes…how did you…?"
"I know this element," 'Bee supplied, "and trust me when I say, it's not safe for humans: it's radioactive, highly toxic, and extremely flammable if not treated properly." He reached pulled out a white card from seemingly thin air, "Call this number, they'll remove it properly and clean the affected area."
"Thank you, I'll be sure to get right on that," she said, taking the card. "Thank you all, again, for saving my life."
"No Problem, all in a day's work!"
