So uh... about that hiatus being over...

Really sorry for the long wait on this one guys. I'd hoped to get it out to you sooner, but things didn't quite work out as planned. To make up for this though, this chapter ended up being my longest one yet. So hopefully that counts for something here.

I must admit that I had more fun with this chapter than I expected, especially with all of the extra stuff that I got to add. personally, I feel like some of my funniest jokes yet came from this chapter alone, but I'll leave that up to you to decide.

So much pop-culture stuff came out in this time though. How about that Endgame movie, eh? That knocked my socks off for sure. And since the official spoiler ban is off I can talk about it. All I will say though, is this: Go watch it. Do yourself a favour and watch it if you haven't. Apparently its coming out again with some deleted content as a "special DLC edition", so go see it. Even if just so it beats Avatar.

Something has to beat Avatar by now...

In other news, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 looks damn great. Elsa Bloodstone is such a surprise for this game, but its made me so much more ecstatic for it. And the Fantastic Four are coming! Mark me down as excited!

Now onto the reviews you guys left. Unfortunately I didn't get enough questions for the Q&A, but I still got some good reviews from you guys. As always, I love getting them. So let's take a look, shall we?:

rmarcano321: Don't worry, I have a plan for the Reds ;)

darthwolf: I don't really have anything planned for Match if I'm being honest. But we're still a ways away from that yet, so you never know.

CRUDEN: Figured it was time she got a little more spotlight.

LegionnaireBlaze: Well, as I said earlier, I have plans for them.

Dion ComicWiz: Good to hear from you my friend! Sorry for the extended wait on this latest entry, but hopefully it continues to delight all the same. I'm delighted to hear such praise coming from you for my last entry. Hopefully this chapter continues to improve and and impress. Artemis and Ace's little bout of distrust and tension is only gonna get bigger from here. I have to admit, including Harper was a personal thing since I absolutely adore Bluebird in the comics. How could I not include her? And having Both Bette and Stephanie just made it more fun. The Bat-Clan in Earth-45 is surprisingly large already, and I can't wait to show you who else is around. I really felt like Ashley's weaknesses had to be established in order to keep her and M'Gann more unique with their powers being so similar. Yeah, the reference to Avatar: The Last Airbender was really easy, but making that Sektor joke? That's another purely personal one, but it was so easy. Riddler's little treasure hunt is going to be coming soon... hopefully. The next chapter of Tales from Earth-45 will be "Patriot Act", but his little escapade will be next. Don't worry, Mr. Nobody will definitely be bringing his unique brand of personality to this bout!

Malchior the Bad: As I said before, no Earth 616 characters will be showing up anytime soon. Or rather, no one in any major prominent appearances. As for Sektor, he is a robot ninja from the Mortal Kombat series.

7-Eleventh: Oh trust me, we'll see the full effect of the distrust come to light here. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to release this on the exact one-year anniversary. But I at least got it out. Oh Red Tornado won't be coming back for a while yet. They've got a few more missions to run before even beginning their search. I already have my Injustice League roster selected, but I will say this: Polaris is a little... dead at the moment. It's a solid roster that you have though. The entire Marvel family will not be appearing. It's still just Shazam, unfortunately. One of those two ladies very well could join. But we'll just have to wait and see ;). Yeah, Artemis and Ace are definitely going to have a lot of tension in the near future, even if it becomes more one-sided. Again, assuming that Chapter 14 will be when they go after Tornado. After all, that's again a while away. As for the League appearing for it, not gonna happen. It kind of defeats the purpose of the team sneaking out after all, right? Niuhi might end up visiting her parents though. That might be cute...

Zeo: It's coming... eventually.

Thank you all for the reviews. It definitely makes writing this a whole lot easier to get them. And hopefully this ended up being worth the long wait for you guys.

Anyway, disclaimer time!: I own nothing but Niuhi Lincoln and the original idea for this fic. Keemia and all related characters are property of Marvel Comics and therefore Disney (I am... inevitable *Fails to snap*). Young Justice and all related characters are owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros, and yes this includes the Vertigo stuff.

And now, onto the chapter!

Northern India – September 10th, 14:43 IST

A dense, muggy air hung close to the ground all through the rainforests of northern India, and coupled with the high heat of the midday sun, it made for an uncomfortable trek through the jungle. But for Gotham City mayor Hamilton Hill, it was all worth it so long as he nabbed his prize. The man might have put up a charitable and responsible front, but in reality, he was just as corrupt as most other politicians from Gotham were.

The mayor's main vice lay in his enjoyment of illegal hunting. The man had been on most of the big hunts for game and had claimed some very impressive, and illegal, trophies from it. However, up until now, he had somehow not managed to go hunting for tigers, a mistake that he was all too eager to rectify.

The real hard part for him was finding a guide willing to take him into the prime hunting ground. For a few weeks now there had been reports from the locals of oddities in these forests, with larger and more aggressive animals. The mayor paid them no mind. After all, what was an animal compared to a carbine rifle?

No, the struggle was finding guides who had the lack of morals necessary for this. Until recently, No one wanted to take him out after the endangered predator. The greatest offence to come from this was when a notorious hunter from Kenya actually dared to strike him across the face for such an "offensive" offer, insisting that the mayor was scum for even considering it.

'Stupid Congo Bill… you would have made a pretty penny for taking me out here…' The mayor inwardly scoffed. His new compatriots for the expedition weren't exactly the type of people he would have preferred to deal with, but in this game, beggars can't be choosers.

After a few miles of hiking, Hill had finally come across a sign of his quarry. Bending close to the ground, he examined a patch of dirt that held a large, fresh paw print. "Indian Tiger print, boys." He said with a smirk. "I told you Hamilton Hill didn't need any superstitious guide to lead us to big game," he boasted with a laugh, completely opting to ignore the tireless search he had just days before for a guide willing to take him into these forests.

"Devil beasts, ha!" Hill laughed before standing up again and creeping further through the brush. All around them, the sound of birds slowly quieted, but Hill was used to this. It was common for birds to go silent in the presence of a predator, and today Hamilton Hill was the perfect predator.

Just a few metres ahead, Hill and his compatriots came to the edge of a small embankment that overlooked a large clearing in the forest. The expansive clearing was filled with tall grass, and in the middle lay one large tree. Perched up in the lower branches was a large, male Bengal Tiger.

Hill inwardly congratulated himself as he took out his rifle, aiming carefully at the large cat as it slowly descended from the tree to the grass below. The tiger didn't get much further than that, however, as three metal pylons suddenly erupted from the ground, in a triangular shape around the tiger.

Hill gasped faintly in surprise as the pylons seemed to emit a sort of strong energy field around his quarry. The tiger gave a roar of indignation before collapsing on the ground in a dead faint.

"What is that?" one of the other hunters asked, stunned by the technology.

"Who cares? I just made my quota." Hill grinned as he aimed his rifle again. Nothing was going to stop him now. Not the Indian government, not Thomas Blake and his ridiculous defence of large wild cats, and certainly not metal pylons. The unconscious tiger was simply an easier target. Though, Hill would have the tiger stuffed and mounted in a more dynamic pose. It would make for a much more interesting story.

Before he could pull the trigger, a growl from the bushes behind the men distracted him. The three turned around, expecting to be confronted by another large animal. What they found, was the barrel of a minigun pointing through the bushes and aimed right at them. Slowly, the owner of the gun stepped forward, his weapon still trained on the poachers, revealing himself to be a large gorilla. The gorilla had several ammunition belts strapped to its body, and it made several heavy and threatening grunts at the men.

Hill suddenly made a run for safety, while his compatriots were too stunned to move. Then, the gorilla roared in fury as the barrel of the gun started to spin, and the weapon opened fire.

Their screams could be heard for miles.

Mount Justice – September 23rd, 06:34 EDT

With the cave confirmed empty of any more lingering android threats, the League immediately set to rebuilding and mending the damage caused by the surprise attack. John Stewart had gathered Guy Gardner and the newest Lantern recruit Jessica Cruz to set about lifting the larger pieces of stone, rubble, and metal that were unsalvageable. Shazam moved to help Longshadow with setting a new generator in place of the one Robin fried when Artemis enacted the EMP.

Martian Manhunter and Captain Atom worked with Shocker to rewire all of the circuitry, while Sphere circled around them, beeping in an almost curious fashion.

"Heh, see somethin' you like, little critter?" Shocker asked, bemused, while Martian Manhunter gave it a gentle pat with a smile. Immediately after, he returned to his keyboard, while Shocker and Captain Atom finished with the last of their repairs. There was a quiet rumbling before the computer's voice reactivated.

"Synchronizing key security protocols with Watchtower mainframe." The automated voice of the computer said as the security was once again online in the cave.

While their technology was slowly getting back to normal, the team themselves was a whole other story entirely. The entire time that they had been at the cave since the League had arrived, each member of the team had stuck together, not once leaving their friend' sides. Apparently, losing Tornado had hit them all harder than they'd thought.

Barry sighed for what had felt like the millionth time that morning as he set his head down on the table the rest of the team was standing around. A dull impact in front of him called his attention, as he noticed Green Arrow had set a bowl of pretzels in front of him.

"Thanks, but no thanks," the young speedster sighed, not wanting to be placated cheaply by food.

"Yeah, what we want are answers, about Red Tornado and his siblings." Robin nodded, his frustration clearly evident.

"Exactly!" Barry chimed back in. Arrow stared at the two impassively before moving to retake the bowl. Barry saw the motion and took the bowl from his hands. "Leave the bowl." He said, before eagerly eating a handful of the pretzels.

"Nice to see your priorities are in line, Barry." Niuhi snarked, rolling her eyes while Ace cast a worried glance to Keemia. She and Kaldur had stepped aside from the group and were currently talking to Batman about the events of the previous night. Their body language was very clearly guarded, almost like they almost didn't trust talking to anyone.

She wasn't the only one who had noticed, as Superboy's own attention turned to the conversation the three were having. While he was normally against spying on his own team, his own curiosity was starting to get the best of him.

He cocked his head ever so slightly, before focusing to pick up the conversation.

"… It was during the Taipei mission with Red Arrow." Kaldur said. "Sportsmaster revealed the possibility of a mole within the team."

"We hadn't believed it at the time due to his lack of reliability, but we couldn't deny the possibility," Keemia added, folding her arms as she looked away.

Kaldur nodded at her words. "Indeed. In light of last night's attack, Tornado would appear to be the traitor." He surmised. "But whether he betrayed us willingly, or was preprogrammed to, is still-"

"You knew?!" Superboy yelled, cutting Kaldur off before he rushed forwards. He grasped Kaldur by his collar before slamming him into the wall roughly, blowing past Keemia in the process. "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'Gann!"

"Conner, what are you doing?" M'Gann asked, shocked by the clone's actions as she flew over, the others close behind.

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us, and said nothing!" He scowled before looking to Keemia with a look of outrage and betrayal. "And so did Keemia."

"You knew?" Robin asked in shock as Kid Flash looked between the two of them.

"And you didn't tell us?" Barry added.

"We sought to protect the team from-" Kaldur started before being cut off by Artemis.

"Protect us from what?" the archer asked indignantly. "Knowledge that might have saved our lives?"

"That's not it at all!" Keemia scoffed.

"Oh really? Sure didn't look like it when half of us almost drowned, and half of us were almost burned alive!" Barry chimed in again as he rounded on Keemia.

"Hey, in case you missed it, I was in the same boat you were!" Keemia defended.

"How does that make it any better?" Niuhi asked with a frown. "You were still keeping secrets from us."

"Something you're clearly accustomed to," Artemis added as she folded her arms defiantly while glaring at Keemia.

"Do not blame Keemia for any of this, I ordered her to keep silent. She wanted to tell you." Kaldur cut in, calling their attention back to him.

"Kal-" Keemia started before Kaldur shook his head.

"Don't," he said simply.

"So you stopped her from telling us? So you could make yourself feel better?" Superboy asked, before looking to M'Gann. "You almost died!"

"Enough." Batman's voice said, shocking the team out of their stupor as they turned to look at the Dark Knight. Batman's eyes had narrowed into his infamous bat-glare until Conner reluctantly released Kaldur from his grip. Jason was silent as he pondered everything, while Ashley simply stood next to Keemia, her face impassive.

"With Red Tornado… missing… the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors." Batman explained while Green Arrow and Black Canary stood next to him. "Shazam has volunteered to take the first shift."

The hero in question walked over, looking to the team with a grin. "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys."

The team looked amongst each other, unsure of how to proceed. Robin and Kid Flash stood off to the side near Keemia, seemingly placated by the notion that she was insistent on telling them. But there was still an evident distrust of Kaldur as Conner levelled a glare to the Atlantean.

"After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna—" he started, before Batman cut him off.

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us." He insisted, not leaving any room for an argument. After Conner gave a reluctant nod, he turned before activating the holoscreen to show various news reports. "I have another assignment for this team."

The various newspapers displayed articles about a heavily armed gorilla terrorizing Northern India, coupled with a final clip that featured an interview from Hamilton Hill. "Tch, "Gotham Mayor Attacked by Guerilla Gorilla"?" Barry scoffed while the others looked at Batman in disbelief.

'Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?' Conner asked indignantly, using his telepathic link with M'Gann.

"Batman, please tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase!" Robin urged while the others seemed to convey similar sentiment.

"I never joke about the mission," Batman countered, his tone deathly serious. That humbled Robin enough that he backed down, while the others were still unsure. "I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents."

"Is there any other insight you can give us here?" Keemia asked with a frown. "A rogue black ops gorilla, while strange, is still fairly vague."

"Unfortunately, reports are sparse. Either the witnesses can't remember anything else, or they aren't alive to talk." Batman said, once again silencing their questions. Clearly, this was more serious than they realized. "Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India, and check this out," Batman said to the Atlantean, who nodded once in understanding.

"Hmph, "Your team"." Barry scoffed as he and Robin pushed past Kaldur, with the others close behind.

"You didn't have to take the fall for me Kal. I should be suffering with you." Keemia murmured quietly.

"No. I would much prefer it if only one of us were doubted here. I'm sure they'll be mindful enough to listen to orders, but we still need some semblance of leadership out there. Since you're my second-in-command, it will have to fall to you." Kaldur said, his tone morose.

Keemia seemed put off by this answer but didn't say anything else as they entered the hangar and approached the Bioship. Sphere rolled after Conner, intent on following him, only for the clone to halt it with his hand.

"Uh-uh, go." He ordered, shooing it away. The Sphere rolled past Shazam, who landed next to Robin with a grin.

"You're coming with?" Robin asked.

"Sure! We'll have a blast." He grinned before entering the ship, while Robin and Kid Flash watched him skeptically.

"Translation: he blames us for the Red fiasco." Robin scowled.

"Puh-lease Pigeon. He's way too naive for that." Keemia countered as she entered the ship.

"But Batman isn't. And he clearly doesn't trust us." Robin retorted, just as Aqualad arrived.

"It's a big club," Barry mused, fixing one last glare at Kaldur before he too entered the ship. Kaldur stared after his team before internally sighing. This was going to be a long mission.

Northern India – September 23rd, 21:36 IST

In the dark of the night, the rainforests below the Bioship seemed eerily tranquil, no hints of any strange activity. Looks can be deceiving, however, and so the Bioship was kept under its cloaking device as it slowed in its flight, hovering above the trees. A port in the bottom of the ship opened, as Robin leapt out, closely followed by Artemis and Red Hood.

The three used grappling lines to lower themselves to the ground safety before they drew their weapons and took point in the clearing. Once they found it to be safe, Red Hood made a motion to the ship as it landed before releasing the rest of the team, and their Justice League tag-along.

"All clear," Robin reported as Hood nodded.

"Infrared is negative so far. No sign of foul play."

"Switch to stealth," Aqualad ordered, activating the stealth mode in his costume. "And we'll review mission parameters."

"Parameters?" Barry scoffed as he switched to stealth mode. "We don't need no stinkin' parameters."

"It's recon. We know what to do." Robin nodded before the two turned to wander into the forest.

"Kid, Robin…" Kaldur called.

The two stopped before turning to Kaldur, still glaring at him. "The four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us!"

"Or, did you forget that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Barry finished before pulling his goggles on as the two disappeared into the jungle.

Kaldur watched them run off before Niuhi called his attention next. "You know, I might have been here the shortest, but I kind of thought that being a part of a team would make me privy to all the information." She scowled before cracking her knuckles. "Glad to see even the veterans were left hanging out to dry." She shook her head before running into the bush as well.

"Don't worry about it, I'll keep an eye on her!" Red Hood called, before drawing his pistols and running after Niuhi.

Conner nodded at that before grasping M'Gann's hand. "Come on, I'll keep you safe."

M'Gann tore her hand away from his grip, surprising Conner as she cast him a scathing glare. 'You're my boyfriend Conner, not my keeper. Stop behaving like a character from a seventies sitcom.' She scolded him telepathically.

"I just… wanna protect you." He stammered out.

"Like Aqualad protected us?" Artemis mused. "I'm not sure your protection or your patronizing is good for our health." She continued, jabbing Conner in the chest with her bow before she and M'Gann made their own path into the jungle.

Conner stared after the two before whirling to Kaldur. "Why didn't you stop them? You're supposed to be in charge!" he yelled.

"I am…" Kaldur started before Conner held a hand out to silence him. Then, the clone leapt off into the jungle alone.

Shazam finally finished processing everything that happened before he looked to Kaldur with a frown. "Um, did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?"

"No, you didn't. Everyone else has just decided that thinking logically is for chumps." Keemia huffed.

"I'm sorry about them Kaldur. If it's any consolation, we're ready to listen." Ashley offered.

Kaldur considered the offer for a moment before shaking his head. "No, it is fine. Just establish a link for the four of us. Then we can search on our own."

"You're really giving up that easy Kal? Are you sure you don't want me to yell at them?" Keemia offered, half-jokingly.

"I am sure… but thank you." He said, trying to force a brave face before the two final girls disappeared into the undergrowth reluctantly, their telepathic link set. Kaldur closed the Bioship with a sigh before he sedately led Shazam into the jungle.

Unbeknownst to the pair, a figure had arrived in the bushes not long after the others had left, and was watching them with dark red eyes before it too vanished.

While the team trekked through the vast rainforest, the tranquility seemed to clash with the tension they all felt. Whether this was due to the uncertainty of the mission ahead, or their lack of trust in Kaldur had yet to be determined. Still, with the relative ease so far, it made it easier for the team to focus on investigating.

After nearly twenty minutes of walking, Kaldur and Shazam finally came across a large clearing littered with bullet casings. They were heavy calibre, and they were scattered through the grass, along with boot prints, and what seemed to be gorilla tracks.

"Guess this is where Mayor Hill's 'monkey business' went down." Shazam mused as he carefully examined the ground, holding one of the casings between his fingers. He dropped it back to the ground before standing up and looking to Kaldur for confirmation. "So at least we've confirmed his story, right?"

Kaldur didn't seem to hear him, however, and stumbled forward almost in a trance. "Uh, Aqualad?" Shazam repeated, taking the teen out of his stupor.

"My apologies, Shazam. I am… plagued by doubts," he admitted, looking off to the side. "Perhaps I was wrong to withhold."

Before Shazam could reply with any advice, the two suddenly heard a massive rush of noise crashing through the undergrowth off to their left. Heavy, impactful footsteps echoed through the jungle as birds panicked and flew out of the treetops, clearly attempting to avoid whatever was coming. The two heroes stood their ground, ready to leap into action. Aqualad noticed numerous rocks on the ground shaking from the impacts that drew ever closer.

Finally, with one last cacophonous crash, a bull elephant charged through the trees into the clearing. Something was clearly wrong with the animal though, its tusks were jagged and appeared to splinter like branches. It was twice its normal size, with a mane of hair over its shoulders. The clearest indication of foul play, however, was the massive tears in its leathery skin, showing the muscle underneath. This elephant looked like it had gone through the same process Mammoth had.

It charged the two heroes as Shazam flew into the air to meet it head on, crashing into the elephant with his shoulder as he tried to push it back. Much to his surprise, the beast seemed almost unfazed as it grasped him with its trunk and flung the Leaguer away through a nearby tree trunk until he rolled to a stop in the bushes.

Aqualad looked on in horror before a second elephant entered the clearing, this one mutated in the same way as the first. Kaldur quickly rolled to avoid their footfalls, even as they relentlessly chased him. Shazam slowly rose to his feet, hearing a soft growling as he noticed a tiger watching him. He wasn't able to do much before Aqualad was knocked in front of him by one of the enraged elephants. Shazam stood quickly before turning around as the elephant seemed to survey its handiwork. It then gave a low trumpeting bellow as it charged again.

Elsewhere in the jungle, Conner made his way through the bush, thoroughly frustrated and looking for an excuse to let off some steam. Kaldur's withheld information struck a nerve with him, and he wasn't quite sure which hurt him more; that Kaldur apparently didn't trust him or the team to know, or that it nearly killed M'Gann in the process.

M'Gann… that was another thing frustrating him. All he wanted to do was be able to protect his girlfriend, and after their near escape from danger the night before, he felt he had every right to protect her right now. He had all this power and yet he was still weak. Even then, M'Gann refused his help earlier. What was going on? He bet Superman never had these problems. Superman, yet another problem to be solved. Yet another obstacle to Conner being happy. Why couldn't he just accept him, or even talk to him openly? And not in his usual hostile fashion. Conner wanted to be accepted by his, for lack of a better term, father. Keemia's family accepting him went a long way to fixing it, but it still wasn't the same. And now all Conner had were his own thoughts and the suddenly silent jungle.

The attack came from the left.

A sudden blur of fur and fangs slammed into Conner, attempting to knock him to the ground. Conner easily knocked his attacker away, finding it to be a wolf. This wolf seemed bigger than normal, though, and more aggressive. Around its neck were the same collars from Belle Reve Penitentiary. He didn't have long to process this though as another wolf attacked him from behind and forced him on the ground.

He punched it away before being attacked by two more from the side, as the whole pack surrounded him. He fought a war on all fronts, trying to stop each one from getting too close. On a cliff face above him, a lone white wolf watched the others work; the pack's alpha male.

"So you really had no clue about this mole? I thought you were supposed to be third in command or something?" Niuhi asked indignantly as she and Jason cut their way through the jungle, the former with claws of ice and the latter with his trench knives.

"I'm telling you, I had no clue. Don't go giving me any crap about it either. Apparently, they learned about this while protecting the Rhelasian peace conference. Which, if you remember, I wasn't present for. Hell, you weren't even on our team for that." Jason snarked.

"So why aren't you mad then? You're in the chain of command, you should know even before we do!"

"Because it doesn't do us any good to jump the gun like that."

"What do you mean?" Niuhi asked in confusion.

"They had their reason for not telling us, clearly. So let's be reasonable; how would a mole remain hidden?"

"By no one knowing they exist." She answered simply.

"Now what happened to M'Gann when your mom found out she was a mole back in Belle Reve?" he asked, ignoring her glare.

"She was attacked instantly." Niuhi scowled, hating the memory.

"Right. Now that was because they knew who the mole was. But what happens now if Kaldur reports a mole on the team, but we don't know who the mole is? We would presumably be told all at once, but what happens then?"

"The mole gets tipped off… and then they can hide themselves… or blame someone else!" she said in realization.

"Exactly!" Jason nodded. "I trusted Kaldur's judgment to say nothing because it was the safest play. What if the mole was informed that he knew? They might have forced their hand, even succeeded in killing one of us."

"How do you know all this stuff? This strategy, I mean." She asked, significantly calmer now that Jason had allowed her to see reason.

"I spent a few months waging a one-man war on crime. After a while, you pick up how criminals think. And if one wanted to stay hidden from us, they would have to stay pretty underhanded if someone knew." He mused, leaning against a tree. "You gotta think fast if you want to survive the underworld of Goth-"

He was suddenly cut off as a massive buffalo charged in from the bushes behind him, crashing into Jason and knocking him across the ground.

"Jason!" Niuhi called out before looking to the buffalo with a scowl. "You're gonna pay for that!" she roared before charging the buffalo head on and grappling with its horns. This buffalo was far bigger than normal, nearly twice the size and its muscles were so swollen that they ripped through the skin. Despite Niuhi's strength, it soon overpowered her, forcing her down onto the ground as it dragged her along the forest floor.

Jason was on his feet again quickly as he drew his pistols before firing several rounds of rubber bullets at the buffalo. The projectiles bounced harmlessly off of its skin, but they still grabbed his attention. It pawed at the ground, before giving a deep bellow and charging at Jason.

"Oh, I should have thought that through more…." He muttered before it was suddenly halted just inches from hitting him, as Niuhi had grabbed it by the haunches and was pulling it back.

"I'm not done with you yet!" she roared as the tattoo on her back glowed a bright blue, the light soon spread to her eyes and veins. Her muscles and height swelled by a few inches, as her strength seemed to double and she easily threw the buffalo away and into a large tree.

"Whoa! What the hell was that?" Jason asked in surprise as she looked down at her hands while the glow faded away.

"I… I don't know…" she admitted before a grunting noise alerted them to the buffalo getting up again.

"We need to take it down fast. Think you can dodge when I tell you to?" Jason asked as he took stock of the large tree behind them.

"Absolutely," she nodded as the buffalo rushed them again. The two teens stood their ground, waiting for the right moment. Finally, Jason drew his pistols again and shot at the eyes of the buffalo. They proved to be far more vulnerable as the animal was momentarily blinded, but continued to rush towards them.

"Now!" he yelled as they each dove off to the side while the buffalo continued head-on into the tree, unable to see them. The force of the head on impact left the great animal stunned, but Jason wasn't gonna take a chance. "Freeze it!" he ordered before Niuhi summoned a blast of ice to freeze the animal in a block that left its head exposed.

"Well… that was something…" Niuhi panted while Jason fell to the ground, feeling his pain now as the adrenaline slowly left him.

"Yeah… bet you everyone else is doing worse." He smirked before Niuhi cuffed him upside the head gently and they continued on their way.

Both Robin and Kid Flash had remained relatively silent throughout their trek in the undergrowth of the jungle. But their frustration with their leader was still very palpable, and both teens were wearing a deep chip in their shoulders because of it. While at first, they were equally as mad at Keemia, finding out that she had wanted to tell them but was overruled helped to curb their tempers.

After all, she had wanted to keep them in the loop. It was only Kaldur who had stopped her, and clearly because he was leader he used some sort of "hierarchical privilege" to keep her quiet. That had to be it. Otherwise, Keemia would have just told them anyway. She was stubborn like that.

Regardless of their anger, they were still able to focus on their work while in the jungle. Despite numerous animal tracks that they had encountered in their journey, they still had found no signs of any gorilla. After a few minutes of fruitless search, the two decided to climb up a small cliff face in order to give themselves a height advantage as they surveyed their surroundings.

It was from this lookout position that they heard a screeching call from the sky behind them. They turned to find three vultures circling overhead before dive-bombing the two teens. Robing and Kid Flash quickly dove out of the way of their talons before moving to retreat.

"Thought vultures only ate dead meat!" Robin snarked as he threw several of his explosive discs at the birds before him and Kid Flash started running away from their avian pursuers.

"Yeah, these are some very proactive scavengers!" Barry agreed, noting that the vultures seemed to be larger than normal.

"Proactive and super-sized." Robin continued, ducking to avoid another dive from the vultures. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Kobra-Venom?" Barry asked.

"Yeah!" Tim nodded before the two dove out of the way of yet another diving attack.

"What really gets me about this whole thing, is that if we knew, we might have been able to find them ourselves!" Artemis said, continuing a long-winded rant that she had been subjecting M'Gann to since they started their search.

"Perhaps. I mean I agree with you, don't get me wrong, but don't you think you're being a little overzealous?" M'Gann asked. Seeing Artemis' bewildered face, she clarified. "I'm angry at Kaldur too, okay? But at the same time, it really doesn't help us to be this focused on it. We have a mission to take care of."

Artemis pondered her words, seemingly agreeing with her. "Yeah… I guess you're right…"

"I think you're actually angrier about this than the others are." M'Gann mused. "Besides, who do you think the mole would be if it weren't Tornado?"

Artemis thought for a moment before frowning. "Ace."

"Ace?! Why her?" M'Gann asked in shock.

"I just… I don't trust her." Artemis admitted. "She told us herself that she accidentally hears our thoughts. That just makes it easier for her to get information."

"But Ace also helped us retrieve our memories in Bialya after we lost them. And she helped you and Robin to save our lives when the two Reds attacked us last night, remember?" M'Gann pointed out as the two emerged from the jungle to walk along a river bank.

"Yeah, I remember." Artemis huffed, looking away. Suddenly, a massive crocodile burst from the river and lunged at M'Gann. Its scaly skin was torn to reveal the muscle underneath, and it easily dwarfed any normal member of its species as it attempted to devour the Martian. M'Gann was ready though, as she used her telekinesis to force it back, halting its movements.

Artemis climbed a log perched over the water before drawing an arrow from her bow, ready to help her teammate. Before she could fire, another large crocodile burst from the water below her log, destroying the rotten wood and clamping its jaws down on her quiver before it fell into the river with a screaming Artemis in tow.

Once in the water, the crocodile began its infamous death roll, however, with the quiver in its mouth, it only succeeded in leaving Artemis out of breath and dizzy. Seeing her teammate in trouble, M'Gann dove into the water, before swimming to Artemis and opening the buckle on her quiver's strap, allowing the archer to swim free.

Sensing that its prey had fled, the crocodile soon turned its attention to M'Gann and dove at it with eager jaws. M'Gann, however, used a massive burst of telekinesis to throw the gigantic reptile out of the river and into the jungle as she forced the water in the river to part away from her an Artemis, leaving the two girls in a dry circle of ground, surrounded by water.

Artemis coughed and sputter violently as soon as she was in the open air, before weakly sitting up from her position on the exposed riverbed. "Okay… nearly drowning two nights in a row, is way less fun than it sounds." She huffed, grabbing her quiver while M'Gann sighed in relief before gently lifting Artemis towards the riverbank and to safety.

"Okay, the silence is honestly really freaking me out right now," Keemia said, her eyes switching between watching the surrounding forest and watching Ashley walking in front of her. Ever since they had parted ways with Aqualad and Shazam, the two girls had proceeded forward through the brush in pure silence.

There was no hint of conversation, and that freaked Keemia out even more. A quiet Ace was a dangerous Ace, and she was the only one who hadn't said anything regarding the mole situation since it was revealed.

Keemia grimaced lightly before moving in front of Ace and folding her arms. "Listen, I understand if you're mad at us about the mole but you not saying anything is not helping me to feel any less anxious."

Ashley looked at her with her piercing eyes, the same ones that could stare right through your soul while she carefully searched your thoughts. After what felt like an agonizingly long time under her gaze, Ashley finally gave a little giggle before hugging Keemia. "Sorry about that. It was just funny to watch you freak out. I think Mrs. Waller might be rubbing off on me a little too much."

Keemia blinked in surprise before sputtering indignantly. "You freaked me out on purpose… just for a cheap laugh?"

"Yeah, pretty much." She nodded before Keemia huffed and looked away with a pout that was mostly bravado. Ashley rolled her eyes slightly before gently cupping Keemia's cheek. "Keemia… I'm not mad at you two about the mole. I've known this whole time."

"You have? You never said anything!" Keemia exclaimed.

"I didn't have to. I heard Aqualad's thoughts by accident, his anxiety over the whole situation. I also heard his reasoning for it. Honestly, that's why I haven't said anything; because he was right." Ace explained. "Unfortunately, I think his own fears about it might have come true as well."

"Yeah… they definitely did. Too bad no one felt like talking. Otherwise, they might have proven weak when put against common sense." Keemia scowled before pausing. She listened closely to the jungle as all the ambient noise ended. The sign of a predator. "Ashley…" she whispered quietly.

"Yeah, I caught it." Her girlfriend nodded, sensing Keemia's thoughts on the situation as the two took defensive stances.

"Question remains, what exactly is it?" Keemia asked before a massive python suddenly dove from the trees, aiming to strike at Keemia.

"I think that answers your question!" Ace exclaimed before using her telekinesis to hurl the massive snake away.

"Alright, it's a big python. Bigger than normal?" Keemia asked while Ashley grimaced.

"Bigger than anything in the fossil record. This has to be sixty feet long!" the telekinetic exclaimed before the two dodged out of the way from another strike. "We need to slow it down somehow, its thoughts are too cluttered for me to do anything with my telepathy."

"I got just the thing for that, whoa!" Keemia gasped as she dodged a swipe from the snake's massive tail. "Hope you brought your thermal underwear; Pord eht dnuorg erutarepmet to orezbus!" she called before pressing her hands on the ground.

Frost spread from her fingertips, racing along the forest floor as it coated the soil below the snake, which Ace held in place with her telekinesis to stop it from thrashing or retreating. After a few minutes, the snake's motions died down as the cold made it sluggish. Finally, it fell over into a forced hibernation as the two girls stopped to examine it.

"Whatever made it this big wasn't healthy, just look at it." Ace said as she pointed out spots on the snake's body where the scales were torn open. "Its muscles were exposed by rupturing the body from the inside."

"I've seen that before, on Santa Prisca." Keemia frowned thoughtfully. "Someone must have dosed this snake with Kobra-Venom."

"Who would do that though?" Ace asked.

"I'm not sure… but I doubt we're the only ones with animal trouble right now." Keemia said before the two girls nodded to each other and took off into the jungle again.

Robin and Kid Flash continued to run through the jungle, dodging fallen trees and ducking through the branches as the Kobra-Venom vultures continued to chase them down. While the massive birds couldn't get through the canopy, the boys didn't have suitable room to move unless they were in the open air. Robin split off from Kid Flash suddenly, distracting one of the vultures as the teen took to leaping through the branches. The bird flew after him, only for Robin to suddenly leap through a mass of vines. While Robin landed on the ground safely, the bird was trapped in the thick foliage, unable to get back into the air to pursue.

Meanwhile Kid Flash still had three of the birds chasing after him. Deciding to take after Robin's example, he too started rushing forwards towards a large tree. This one grew at an awkward angle though, allowing Barry to run along its trunk and into the top of the canopy.

He built up as much speed as he could before racing up the tree and running along one of the larger branches before suddenly springing off and leaping through the air towards the birds. As he soared, he swiftly tucked into a tight ball and spin rapidly to increase his momentum, striking the first Vulture with the force of a cannonball.

Once the first bird fell out of the sky, he turned his body to ricochet into the remaining two, downing them as well. With his pursuers taken care of, he rolled into the branches of another tree, before carefully returning to the ground and landing in a crouch on the ground. Robin jogged over to meet him, and the two friends let out a short laugh as they stood up to catch their breaths.

"Man, I'd hate for PETA to see what happened here." Barry laughed.

"What we did, or what our mystery villain did?" Robin asked as Barry took a moment to think.

"Good point."

Superboy's fight with the wolves had proven to be far more painful than the clone was expecting. The predators had clearly been juiced on Kobra-Venom, and with their increased strength also came an increased ability to harm him. Their teeth could now just barely break his skin, and their claws left numerous scathing marks along his body, tearing his shirt in the process.

Despite the pain of their numerous attacks, Superboy still fought through. As one clamped its jaws down in his shoulder, Superboy would throw it through a tree, violently breaking the trunk as the animal crumpled to the ground. When another jumped at him, he simply punched it into the ground, eliciting a whimper from it.

With the pack now either unconscious or cowering in fear, Superboy took a moment to scan for any new threats. Standing on a rock and surveying the battle was a wolf, clearly larger than the others, and with a snow white coat. It was the pack's alpha, and it must have been the strongest of them. Up to now, it had used the pack to test Superboy's strength. Thanks to careful its observation, it now knew Superboy to be a worthy opponent.

Superboy locked eyes with the alpha as they sized each other up. The wolf's cold gaze bore through him, but Superboy simply bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes in a dangerous snarl. Taking it as a personal challenge, the wolf snarled back while Superboy got in a combat-ready stance. After another moment to breathe, the wolf suddenly leapt from the rock, charging the clone. Not to be outdone, Superboy gave a battle cry before leaping at the advancing predator.

Despite Shazam's raw strength, he still made minimal impact in the battle against the massive mutated elephants. While Aqualad dodged another attack from the Bull, Shazam would charge in and punch the elephant in its shoulder, knocking it back. But as one was knocked away, the other would charge, sending Shazam flying way off into the distance with one massive swipe from its trunk.

The moment gave a moment to let out a bellowing trumpet in triumph, as Aqualad stared at the beast completely dumbfounded. At first, it was in fear, but then he noticed something. Around the elephant's neck was a sparking collar, the same kind of collar that the prisoners of Belle Reve wore to keep them in line.

Suddenly, Kaldur knew what to do as he drew his water bearers. Leaping out of the way of the elephant's colossal feet, he landed between its legs before jumping into the air and grasping the collar with two tendrils of water. Giving a defiant roar, he planted his feet on the elephant's chest before launching away, tearing the collar off with him as he went.

The effect was instantaneous as the elephant blinked a few times before its anger slowly faded, and it returned to its normal docile nature. Kaldur gave a small nod before turning to Shazam, ready to relay the discovery. "Remove the collar!" he called to the Leaguer, who hovered above the bull to avoid its trunk.

"On it!" Shazam nodded before diving down, avoiding another strike from the elephant. Flying into its blind spot, he rushed in the before pulling the collar off of it and dropping the device on the ground. The elephant had mounted onto its hind legs for its attack and as such, dropped back to all fours, crushing the collar underfoot as it did.

Much like the first, the bull elephant would also feel its mind return to it. With their anger faded away, the two elephants walked away into the jungle, leaving the heroes in peace. Kaldur watched the two, feeling immense pity for the creatures while Shazam flew down to land next to him.

"Pretty sweet the way you figured out the problem was the collars." Shazam complimented, while Kaldur simply frowned.

"But the collars indicate an intelligence behind this attack." Kaldur mused. "The rest of the team may also be at risk. Team, report status." Kaldur said instinctively, pressing a finger to his communicator before hissing at the screech of feedback he received. "Ugh. Comm is jammed, and Miss Martian failed to establish a telepathic link before we split up."

Shazam gave Kaldur a pointed look. "Actually, you let everyone split up before communications were set."

"They would not listen!" Kaldur argued while Shazam gave him a bemused, lopsided grin, clearly ready to take advantage of the teaching opportunity.

"I guess. But back at the cave, Batman stopped everyone from arguing with one word." He pointed out, while Kaldur slumped in defeat.

"Because Batman is... Batman."

"Hey, you don't have to tell me." Shazam laughed. "When I first joined the League, all he did was boss me around. And it's hard not to take it personally. But… I never disobeyed an order, and that's probably what kept me alive."

Kaldur frowned slightly before suddenly nodding in understanding. "Batman takes command. He has to, for the good of the League. Thank you for helping me understand."

"Hey, Wisdom of Solomon." Shazam nodded back, pointing at his head for emphasis.

'Aqualad, can you hear me?' M'Gann suddenly called out telepathically.

'Yes, Miss Martian, report.' He sent back.

'Artemis and I were attacked by animals wearing inhibitor collars, like those used on convicts at Belle Reve prison.' She warned, confirming Aqualad's suspicions as the team leader nodded.

Shazam meanwhile, was observing their surroundings carefully in case another animal showed up, before suddenly grinning as he caught a flash of orange stripes. "Cool, the tiger! I'll be right back!" he said before rushing off.

"Shazam, wait!" Kaldur called before groaning as the hero was now too far away to hear him. After a moment, he scoffed before rolling his eyes. "Hey, Speed of Mercury," Kaldur snarked, before following the Leaguer on foot at a more measured pace, formulating his thoughts on what to tell the team.

While the tiger ran through the bushes, it occasionally let out a groan of pain as the collar on its neck sparked and shocked. It slowed to a stopped before turning around as Shazam caught up with it. It watched the hero with careful eyes, unsure of what to do with its new pursuer. It let out a warning growl while Shazam held out his hands, attempting to placate the large cat.

"Hey there, mister." Shazam greeted, landing on the ground. "Bet you'd like good ol' Billy to take that nasty collar off ya, huh?"

The tiger took a careful step back, but lowered its head slowly, seeming to understand Shazam's intention. Suddenly, another shock would tear through the tiger's body as three large pylons emerged from the ground around Shazam. The tiger recognized these as the same ones that had rendered it unconscious several days earlier.

Shazam looked at the pylons in alarm before a field of energy suddenly seized his body, forcing him to the ground. As he looked around weakly, quickly losing consciousness, he saw the form of a large gorilla wearing ammo belts and a red beret dropping down from the tree above. The gorilla looked at the fallen Leaguer before roaring in triumph and beating its chest.

"At least I kept all of my arrows this time…" Artemis grumbled under her breath as she poured the water out of her now recovered quiver. While the girls might have escaped the mutated crocodiles, they were still incredibly wary of their surroundings, both tensing for anything to jump out at them without warning.

M'Gann gave a quick nod to Artemis, placing her hands on her hips as she considered what happened. The animals that attacked them had Belle Reve collars on, so someone clearly set them up on purpose. But whether they were to attack the team, or to guard something against them remained to be seen.

'Miss Martian, Ace, I need a telepathic link up with the entire team, now.' Aqualad telepathically contacted the two girls before they set to work from different parts of the jungle.

'Link established.' Miss Martian said with a small smile.

'We're all online Aqualad,' Ace confirmed as she and Keemia continued trekking through the brush.

'Should you really still be giving us orders?' Artemis asked Kaldur indignantly. 'And should you really be following them?' she asked M'Gann, as the Martian girl simply rolled her eyes. While Kaldur might have withheld the information, he was still their leader. And he could still give them orders.

'Last I checked, the jury was still out on that.' Niuhi chimed in.

'Hey, I thought we talked about this.' Jason scowled while Niuhi simply gave him a sheepish shrug.

'Sorry, guess I'm still a little mad.'

'Listen, please.' Kaldur urged them.

'Oh good, Aqualad's voice in my head. I've so missed that.' Barry drawled sarcastically as he and Robin exchanged glances.

'Hey Kaldur, KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. 'Course, since we're moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves.' Robin added, rolling his eyes.

'If he did, he wouldn't tell you.' Artemis remarked, fastening her quiver to her back again.

'I can't believe you guys. You're acting like children.' Keemia growled.

'Oh don't go thinking you're off the hook entirely. You're still on thin ice with us.' Barry countered.

'Well, I'm two minutes away from drowning you in what's under that ice Barry!' Keemia yelled, causing the speedster to flinch fearfully.

While the others were arguing, M'Gann folded her arms in annoyance. 'Superboy, are you online or just pouting?' she asked the clone.

There was a short silence before Conner answered. 'Busy… call back later!' he struggled to say as he fought off the alpha wolf that was currently biting into his shoulder from behind. He attempted to grasp the wolf's head before it suddenly threw him away into a rock.

'What gets me, is how nonchalant he is about not telling us,' Kid Flash continued to rant. At this point, Kaldur had reached the pylons where Shazam was captured by the gorilla. Emerging from the bushes, he noted the imprint of a man's body, gorilla footprints leading away from the pylons, and clear evidence of someone being dragged.

'He should be chalant. Way chalant. EXTREMELY chalant.' Robin determined.

'Of all the times to pick a new word to butcher, it had to be now?!' Keemia groaned.

'I think we're losing track of what's really important here." Ace said with a frown.

'That Robin should have waited for a better target instead of wasting the opportunity on low hanging fruit?' Jason mused before cuffed upside the head by Niuhi.

Kaldur rolled his eyes with a sigh as they continued to bicker. He tried desperately to ignore them, but it was slowly becoming too much. Their insistence on not trusting him, fighting amongst themselves over that fact, and distracting him from the new priority of finding Shazam was quickly weighing on his patience.

'How can we be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?' Artemis asked.

'Or if Conner doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves?' M'Gann said, finally venting her own frustrations.

'That's a random one… did I miss something once I left?' Jason asked.

'Trust me, I was there for it, and I still don't get why it's coming up now.' Keemia snarked.

'Did he really think that you or I could have been the mole?' Kid Flash asked Robin.

'We've known each other for years!' the boy wonder agreed.

'Trust is a two-way street, and you know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them!' M'Gann pointed out.

'Not that we'd do that. Never.' Artemis added before Aqualad finally snapped.

'Enough!' he yelled into the link, ripping one of the pylons from the ground in his anger. His tone alone was enough to shock everyone into silence, as they knew Kaldur to be the calmest member of the team. Angry or not, to hear him suddenly lash out left everyone speechless. 'Shazam has been captured, and we must act as a team to save him.'

'Ha, under your leadership?' Barry laughed. 'I don't think that-'

'This is not up for debate.' Aqualad scowled, his anger once again making everyone deathly silent. 'You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over if you wish to select a new leader, I will happily step down. But until that time? I am in command here.'

Throwing the now crumpled remains of the pylon to the ground, Kaldur set off into the jungle once again to regroup with the team. The time for arguments was over, and Kaldur was ready to keep his command going.

Not far away from where the team was currently regrouping, Shazam laid out unconscious on a large metal table. He stirred lightly before a soft growling slowly started to wake him up. His eyes fluttered open, his surroundings still appearing fuzzy before another growl called them into focus. All around him appeared to be numerous pieces of surgical and medical equipment

He looked off to the side and saw the same tiger from before sitting next to the table. It gave him an almost apologetic look before slowly standing up to walk away. "The brain enhancement of this… tigre… already pays dividends, non?" a voice asked from the corner of the room, its French accent thick. "For he has brought us a prize most glorious…" The figure took the opportunity to chuckle darkly as Shazam examined his bindings with a frown, unable to move his arms. "The marvelous Shazam."

"Why can't I move?" Shazam asked, trying to get a view of the chuckling villain but being able to move enough to do so.

"It is obvious, non?" the voice said again, as Shazam saw a small grasping tool reaching over numerous surgical instruments that lay on a nearby table. "Your collar is set to prohibit le movement from the neck down." The grasping tool seemed pensive about its choice before finally deciding on a small saw-like instrument. "I have allowed you to retain the power of speech, as your reactions will be instructive during la procedure."

"La procedure…? What procedure?" Shazam asked, genuinely curious as to what the voice had planned.

"I have often pondered the effect of your powers on the cerebral cortex." The voice clarified as another small tool hand-like reached out to touch a digital screen that displayed an x-ray of a brain. It picked out a few key hemispheres as copious notes for them appeared. "I long to see "le Wisdom de Solomon" up close."

"It should prove to be a most enlightening event indeed," another voice said, this time with the owner coming into view. Shazam looked at the second figure in confusion because he appeared to be a two-dimensional man made of what he supposed to be black paper. His body was strangely proportioned and he one had one eye on a bizarrely shaped face. In his chest, there was a heart-shaped hole, and he had no mouth to speak of. "But don't fret you jelly-legged justice seeker. Are we not all interesting enigmas? Are we not all proof that the universe is a drooling idiot with no fashion sense?"

"Despite my colleagues… eccentricities, he is quite correct. Now, Monsieur Nobody, please return to your vigil." The first voice ordered as the two-dimensional man seemed to dance away. "Monsieur Mallah, prepare for surgery." The voice spoke as the same gorilla that kidnapped Shazam walked out, now dressed in surgeon's scrubs, as it pulled on a pair of latex gloves.

After a few minutes to track each other down, the team was once again reunited, with the exception of the still missing Superboy. Regardless of their absent teammate, the teens still sped through the jungle before arriving at the top of a hill which overlooked a large clearing. Down at the bottom of the hill, there was a large building made of concrete and surrounded by more of the same pillars that incapacitated Shazam earlier.

Robin and Kid Flash were on lookout, with Kid Flash pulling his goggles down to inspect with his sensors for anything they might not see. Miss Martian landed nearby in a tree, under her invisibility. She and Ace used their telepathy to make sure the team could communicate silently while they got in position, as well as relaying what Kid Flash could see.

Artemis and Red Hood both took point as marksmen, drawing their bow and pistols respectively as they watched for any signs of movement. Coldsnap served as muscle nearby Aqualad, while Djinn was focused on tracking Shazam's magical essence.

'He's definitely in there. He seems to be stuck in place though.' She said telepathically.

'I'll fly over,' M'Gann offered.

'Negatory,' Kid Flash warned as data he collected in tandem with Robin's holoscreen was used to look for weaknesses. 'The field extends like a dome over the whole compound.'

'Pylons are insulated, but one good shock could cause a momentary gap.' Robin mused.

'I see a target,' Artemis announced as she took careful aim at an electrical panel next to the door of the compound.

'Wind speed is low, but still blowing from the northeast. Keep your aim at a thirty-degree angle to maximize our accuracy.' Jason advised.

'Roger that, I'm aimed right for it.' Artemis nodded.

'Then be ready to hit it,' Kaldur said seriously. 'Be ready, all of you.'

After the team exchanged an uneasy nod, Kaldur took off down the hill, careful to remain quiet as he approached the invisible barrier. Rubbings his hands together to prepare an electrical shock, he suddenly pressed them onto the barricade, flooding it with bioelectricity. He grunted under the strain, fighting with the barrier's own energy output as Kid Flash carefully monitored with his goggles, waiting for an opening. Soon enough, one appeared.

'Now!' Barry called out as Artemis fired, striking the control panel with her arrow and causing the barrier surrounding the compound to shiver and fade. With the obstacle out of the way, the rest of the team continued down the hill, only for Robin to look up on the roof and see a giant monkey looking down at him.

Much like the other animals, it too was mutated by Kobra-Venom and was sporting a Belle Reve collar on its neck. It gave a loud screeching call as alarms started flaring all over the compound. Soon enough, a dozen monkeys had leapt over the roof and into battle against the team, while a camera emerged from the wall to watch the fight unfold.

The camera led to a direct feed inside the compound, where Mr. Nobody and Monsieur Mallah were watching with matching concern. "Oh dear, interlopers. Something tells me they're a bunch of somebodies."

"Go Mallah," the French voice called from the operating table. "Take Monsieur Nobody's associates and deal with les intruders. I can handle Shazam's brain extraction myself." He continued as he held a scalpel precariously close to Shazam's forehead.

Mallah gave a nod to his partner before tearing off the scrubs and running into battle.

Kaldur used his water-bearers to form large clubs as he easily swatted away two of the monkeys. Another leapt at him, and he threw it towards the trees. However, the animal managed to catch itself as it snarled at the Atlantean. Kaldur's eyes narrowed as he noticed the collar before putting his water-bearers away. The monkey charged once again, but this time, Kaldur slammed it to the ground beneath him and tore the collar off.

With the collar gone, the monkey came to its senses before running away into the jungle once again. "Remove their collars!" Kaldur called to the team, informing them of how to stop their attackers.

"Sounds easy when he says it…" Robin scowled from where he was busy fighting off two of the monkeys himself. Artemis took notice, and after kicking a monkey that had gotten too close to her, fired two arrows at once. They each found their marks, cutting the collars off as the monkeys attacking Robin fled.

Robin nodded his thanks before standing and throwing two of his discs towards Artemis. The girl flinched before seeing them fly past her and strike the collars on monkeys that were attempting to attack her from behind.

"Don't you ever wish we'd just get something a little more normal for once?" Keemia grimaced as she used her magic to remove collars from monkeys that Ace had trapped with her telekinesis.

"Yeah, sometimes. But it would be more boring then, wouldn't it?" Ace asked.

"Hey, you've got the right idea, there!" a male voice suddenly called before a figure kicked Ace in the gut, knocking her to the ground.

"Ace!" Keemia called before narrowly dodging another kick from the same figure. "Okay, who's doing that?!"

When she turned to see the figure, she saw a man with wild black hair and scruffy beard. He wore a pink trench coat that covered his torso… which appeared to be a birdcage full of airplanes? On his face, he had a large red exclamation point, which somehow matched his loud grin. "The name's Agent '!', and me and my compatriot here are members of the legendary Brotherhood of Dada!"

"Brotherhood of Dada?" Red Hood asked curiously.

"Compatriot?" Niuhi frowned before a girl dressed in a black tank top with pajama bottoms and sound-cancelling headphones suddenly came in out of nowhere to punch Niuhi with incredible strength.

"Yeah, that girl there is Sleepwalk!" Agent '!' grinned while the door of the compound opened to reveal the gorilla with the minigun. "And that's a gorilla."

"Imagine that," Ace grimaced before Agent '!' suddenly ran at her again. Despite him obviously standing in front of her, she was having trouble tracking his location. He must have had some ability to mask his presence from others. It explained how he was able to catch her and Keemia off guard. After he struck her once more she scowled. "Okay, enough!' she yelled before focusing her telepathy on finding him. Once she did, she grasped his face with one hand before giving him a command: "Sleep!"

The man instantly fell over on the ground, while Niuhi traded blows with Sleepwalk nearby. While Sleepwalk was significantly smaller than Niuhi, she could still match her blow for blow. What made it more insulting was the fact that the girl appeared to be sleeping.

"Seriously? Is she sleeping right now?" Red Hood asked as he tried to land a blow before narrowly dodging a kick from their sleeping opponent.

"Yeah. So let's wake her up." Niuhi decided with a wicked smirk before covering her hands with the coldest ice she could muster, and sliding them under Sleepwalk's shirt to touch her bare stomach.

The effect was instant as the girl shrieked awake, her strength disappearing. Once awake and prone, Red Hood brought her down with a swift chop to the neck before taking her headphones curiously and trying them on.

"What's she got playing on there?" Niuhi asked.

"Huh. Barry Manilow, apparently." Jason shrugged before dodging a hail of warning fire bullets from Mallah. The gorilla had been guarding the door, staying away from the fighting before it suddenly froze, sniffing the air carefully. It then reached behind itself before grasping the still invisible Miss Martian and slamming her on the ground. He aimed the barrel of his gun at her before Kid Flash took notice.

"Get your paws off her, you darn dirty ape!" the speedster called before rushing headlong at the ape and colliding with its chest. This ultimately proved ineffective as Barry was instead sent flying back from the impact.

He slid along the ground before ending up right next to where Keemia was standing. "Well… that could have gone worse, I suppose." She mused before running forwards to engage the ape as well.

"You're not taking my brain!" Shazam pointed out, while his hopeful surgeon set a jar of formaldehyde next to the operating table.

"S'il vous plait, Shazam, do not struggle. Brain extraction is largely painless, but the benefits are enormous." He drawled before slowly coming forward out of the dark to reveal a squat droid body, almost shaped like a can, with an exposed human brain encased with glass on top. This was the villain known as The Brain. "Just look at what it has done for me."

Shazam looked at The Brain, torn between disbelief and pity as he saw a drill slowly come down over his head. "That thing won't work on me." He warned.

"Perhaps." Brain seemed to concede. "But it works on solid steel, so I'll try my luck. I'm told you have the courage of Achilles, non?" he asked as the drill warmed up. "Perhaps you should have asked for his invulnerability instead."

Before the Brain could continue though, the tiger from before suddenly launched over the table, knocking the mechanical can of a villain across the room. It then crouched in front of the operating table in a defensive stance, snarling menacingly at the villain.

"Traitor! You will suffer for that!" Brain yelled before activating the collar and sending the tiger into painful spasms.

"Stop it! Stop!" Shazam pleaded, not wanting to see the tiger in pain. Before Brain could continue his torture, the wall behind him suddenly exploded as Mallah was tossed through the concrete where he collided with the opposite wall inside.

"Oh, that's a good sign." Mr. Nobody mused before the dust settled to reveal a smirking Djinn, who blew away some smoke crackling around her fist before she and the rest of the team entered into the building. "Oh and that's even better!" Nobody added.

As soon as Barry had entered the building, he took one look at the villain responsible before gasping quietly. "It's the Brain!"

"Ugh, I can see it's a brain," Artemis said, rolling her eyes.

"Not a brain, the Brain." Kid Flash corrected.

"In the flesh, so to speak." Brain said, rolling forwards next to Mallah, who picked himself off the ground slowly. "Mallah?"

At his command, the ape took out a remote which caused more pylons to erupt from the ground around the whole team, releasing a powerful field of energy that knocked them down.

'Miss Martian, Superboy, now!' Aqualad commanded as M'Gann used her telekinesis to steal the remote and turn off the field. Once they were free, the team stood up again as the wall behind Mallah exploded, revealing Superboy. At his side, however, was the white alpha wolf.

"Sick 'em." The clone ordered before the wolf rushed in, tackling Mallah before leaping away. The ape rose quickly, roaring in anger before Flash drop-kicked its chest, causing it to stumble. He tried to open fire but was met with a kick in the face courtesy of Robin, before Coldsnap punched him in the knees with an ice enclosed fist. As he fell, Ace would pick him up with her telekinesis before slamming him to the ground.

Mallah tried to fire again, only for Superboy to leap at him. Mallah dodged, causing Superboy to strike the floor before the ape sent him flying with a spray of bullets. Although unharmed by them, it was enough to knock Conner down next to the wolf.

Before Mallah could fire again, an explosive arrow struck his shoulder pack with the bullets before exploding. He looked in shock to see Artemis load another arrow before her and Robin both launched their explosive projectiles to destroy Mallah's precious minigun.

Kaldur and Keemia used conjured shields to deflect laser blasts from the brain, carefully herding him towards Mallah's side. Soon enough, the villain realized that he was surrounded. Red Hood threw Mr. Nobody to the ground in front of him soon after, while Kaldur went to check on Shazam.

He easily tore the collar away, freeing the older hero who grinned at him. "Thanks. Now, one good turn deserves another." He declared before removing the collar from the tiger as the heroes rallied together again to surround the villains, as Sleepwalk and Agent '!' rushed back inside to Mr. Nobody.

"What are we gonna do boss?" Agent '!' asked worriedly while Mallah beat his chest in a threatening display.

"Try it. I hate monkeys." Superboy warned, cracking his knuckles while wolf growled.

"No my friends, this will not be our Waterloo." Brain decided.

"Ah, so we're continuing the oldest and noblest of villainous traditions." Mr. Nobody nodded as numerous side compartments and doors on the Brain's metal chassis opened to reveal various mechanical components. They opened and expanded to reveal a frightening display of sparking technology.

"Au revoir, mes amis." Brain hissed as the team prepared for the worst.

"Get down!" Barry warned as everyone prepared their retaliation. Suddenly, the lights in the compound all went dark, leaving the team in a blackout. The lights flickered back on a few seconds later to reveal the villains were gone, much to the shock of the heroes.

"Wait… that big scary weapon thing, was a light switch?" Barry asked in confusion as everyone looked to each other unsure.

Keemia just shook her head in disbelief before face-palming. "It was a fucking light switch."

With the villains having escaped from the team, for now, they decided to return to the Bioship. AS they made their trek back, they came across all of the animals they'd previously battled and removed their collars as well. By the time they had found the Bioship, they had freed the last of the monkeys which ran off into the forest soon after.

Surveying their handiwork, Barry grinned as he walked towards the ship with Artemis. The archer took notice and cast him a curious glance. "What are you grinning about?"

"One word; souvenir!" Barry grinned before taking out Mallah's beret. It had apparently been lost during the fighting, and Barry claimed it as their traditional souvenir, placing it on his head and pretending to model.

Artemis scoffed and rolled her eyes at his antics. "Two words; gorilla lice."

Barry's eyes widened before he threw the beret to the ground and frantically tried to brush out his hair with his fingers. "Aw man, gross!"

Shazam chuckled before crouching down next to the tiger, which had decided to follow them back to the ship. "That's the last of the collars?" he asked, referring to the monkey, as the tiger growled affirmatively in response. "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" Once again, the tiger growled as Shazam grinned and scratched it behind the ears. The cat mewled in pleasure, leaning into his hand. "Good. I'll be back for a visit, I promise."

At that, the tiger took off, running into the jungle again. Ace watched the exchange with a small smile as she looked up at Shazam curiously. "Is he your new pet now?"

"Maybe. Although I don't think he'll fit in my apartment." He admitted with a laugh. He looked off where the tiger disappeared to before cupping his chin thoughtfully. "I think I'll call him Mr. Tawny."

While the other animals had left, the white alpha wolf had opted to stick around, currently fawning at the attention Conner was giving it. "The rest of the pack is gone, what are you still doing here?" he asked the animal, who leaned in and licked the clone's face amicably.

"I think he wants to stay here with you." M'Gann mused.

"Can I keep him?" Conner asked, suddenly excited as Keemia thought it over. "I'm sure Dad and Z wouldn't mind if he stayed around the house. It would be nicer than keeping him in the cave. If any of the neighbours ask, we say he's a mastiff."

At that, Barry had to laugh. "First the Sphere, now this beast? Dude, you sure make a habit of collecting strays."

Conner huffed quietly before M'Gann set a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Maybe because she's such a stray himself," M'Gann offered before speaking to Conner alone, telepathically. 'Aren't you?'

Conner smiled in return before frowning sheepishly. 'M'Gann, I'm sorry. I was just worried.'

'And that's sweet, Conner. But on a mission, I'm your teammate, not your girlfriend. Agreed?' She smiled as Conner gave her a lopsided smirk in response.

'Yeah,' he nodded, his tone teasing before the two stood up.

"Well, he's gonna need a name." Barry pointed out, as Conner and M'Gann exchanged a glance. "Uh, how's about, 'Krypto'?"

The wolf growled slightly, clearly not amused by the suggestion. Conner gave a small laugh before nodding in agreement. "Pass,"

"Besides, isn't that taken?" M'Gann asked.

"Hey, at least it wasn't something stupid like 'Wonder Dog'." Keemia pointed out.

Kaldur watched the team interacting with each other before giving an inward sigh of relief. The mission could have gone so wrong so fast, but he was glad that they did manage to come together in the end to save Shazam. He gave a short nod before moving towards the gangplank of the Bioship, where Robin was waiting for him. His was about to walk past to enter the ship before Robin cleared his throat to stop him.

"Look, I need to know. Why did you keep the mole intel a secret?" Robin asked, suddenly calling the attention of the whole team as they approached Kaldur, each looking at him expectantly. Kaldur saw them watching him and frowned, unsure of what to say, as Keemia walked over to stand next to him.

"You don't need to worry about it Kal, I can tell them." She offered before Kaldur shook his head.

"No, I must be the one to do it. For the good of the team, they need my trust back." He said to her before facing the team again. "I did not tell you all because the source of the tip was Sportsmaster."

"What? You can't trust him!" Artemis screeched, outraged at the thought.

"I do not," Kaldur said, silencing her instantly. "It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide the team with false information."

"And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded." Tim realized while Keemia gave him a sharp glare.

"Damn right he almost did. Look, I know you guys were angry about it, but I wish you could have used your brains for half a second! We almost died, sure. But Kaldur had no way of knowing that. He never considered the idea that it could be Red Tornado. Would any of you had thought it could be him?"

"No… we wouldn't. Because he's a member of the Justice League." Barry nodded slowly.

"And the mole was said to be in the team. Tornado was never a factor until it was too late." Keemia concluded.

"The mole could have just been a ploy, but you had to consider that it might be true." Robin continued, now thoroughly ashamed of himself for his assumption.

"Yes. As leader, I did." Kaldur nodded. "In which case, I did not wish to alert the traitor."

"Even if that meant keeping Jason in the dark, despite the fact that he's your lieutenant," Tim concluded. "Hate to say it, but… makes sense."

"I am still prepared to step down." Kaldur finished, while the team seemed to consider his words carefully.

"Well, all in favour of keeping Aqualad as leader?" Barry asked before every member of the team raised their hand. Even the wolf seemed to cock his head to the side, raising one ear in response. Kaldur nodded appreciatively to them before Shazam stepped over, setting a hand on his shoulder with a wide grin.

"Guess it's unanimous." He said before offering a hand to Kaldur as the two shook, both of them confident with the future once again. Afterwards, Shazam released his hand before turning to take off. "Well, see you tomorrow!"

"You're… not coming back with us?" Kaldur asked in surprise.

"Nope, gotta fly!" Shazam laughed before leaping into the sky and flying off west, towards the horizon.

"I hate to admit it… but I think I could get used to having him around. He's more fun than most other Leaguers anyway." Keemia said bluntly before Ace walked over to hold her hand.

"He really gets us honestly. It's kind of refreshing to have someone acting so young." Ashley smiled before the couple walked on into the ship.

"So when were you gonna tell us about you two getting together?" Artemis asked before Keemia met her with a blank stare.

"As soon as you were gonna stop gawking over it." She replied snidely as Artemis wisely decided to keep quiet at that.

"So, what are you gonna call him?" M'Gann asked Conner as he scratched the wolf behind the ears.

"What's wrong with just Wolf?" Conner asked as he, M'Gann, Barry, and the newly christened Wolf entered the Bioship.

"Generic, but acceptable." Barry relented, as they left Aqualad as the last member of the team still outside. Kaldur watched his team with a soft smile before casting one last glance at the jungle. The mission may have been harder than usual, but the team was now stronger than ever. With one last careful look, he entered the ship before they took off for home.

Fawcett City – September 24th, 22:16 CDT

Dudley H. Dudley was a small-time real estate agent who made his living selling commercial space to various small-time businesses in Fawcett City. More prominent corporations considered him a bit of a conman, but that was due to his own nature of putting emphasis on the small-time market while gouging the larger businesses for far more money. After all, in his mind, if they have as much business as they claim, they can certainly afford to buy his real-estate. It was even in prime business locations. As far as Dudley was concerned, it was fair.

Being a resident of Fawcett City, Dudley was no stranger to superhero activity. Despite his experience to the unusual, it was still a remarkable display of calm that he had no reaction to the superhero Shazam suddenly flying through his living room window while he was busy reading a book on the couch.

Not even glancing at the hero as he walked past the couch, Dudley simply turned to the next page of his book. "Well boy, how'd it go?"

"Ah, it was so cool!" Shazam grinned as he took the lid off of a cookie jar from the kitchen counter and retrieved one of the chocolate chip cookies within. "The team's way more fun to hang out with than the League and they go on these covert ops missions that rock! And I got nabbed by the Brain, and I met this tiger, and-"

"Okay, okay." Dudley chuckled at his enthusiasm. "I'm glad you had fun sport, but it's getting pretty late. Brush your teeth and hit the hay."

"Okay, okay. I'm going." Shazam relented as he replaced the lid on the cookie jar and walked off towards the hallway. He didn't get too far away before Dudley stopped him, not missing a beat.

"A-hem! Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked as Shazam seemed to grin.

"Nah, I was just seeing if you were paying attention." Shazam grinned before turning around and flexing his muscles as he looked to the ceiling. "SHAZAM!" he yelled as a bolt of lightning struck him through the window. In an instant, Shazam was gone and in his place was twelve year old Billy Batson. Billy yawned before heading off down the hall again. "Goodnight, Uncle Dudley."

"Goodnight, Billy."

Paris, France – September 23rd, 19:47 CEST

"Drat that team, ruining our fun." Mr. Nobody frowned, seemingly raving in place while Agent '!' and Sleepwalk watched him curiously. "The world needed a few dozen or so new animals anyway. The only better plan would have been to combine them and invent the Horse-Fly!"

"Are you sure you should really be focusing on that boss?" Agent '!' asked. "I thought our plan was to make you the president from a third party?"

"It certainly is the plan still! Someone must inform the people about how a foot is in fact 13 ½ inches long!" Mr. Nobody nodded. "We just need to distract those meddlesome teenagers somehow."

"Are you sure the Doom Patrol isn't the bigger threat here, boss?" Sleepwalk asked with a frown as Mr. Nobody whirled around to stare at her.

"Of course I'm sure! The Doom Patrol are a bunch of has-beens. But teenagers? They scare the living shit out of me." He raved before smugly folding his arms. "That's why I'm fighting fire with fire! Isn't that right, dear Terry?"

At that, a girl with olive skin and brown hair in a bob cut stepped out, wearing a stage magician's costume that was a bright red. She matched it with fishnet stockings, black stiletto heels, and a black domino mask that fit neatly on her face.

"It absolutely is! Time to cheer them up!" Terry grinned before adjusting the small hat on her head.

The Brotherhood of Dada looked at her curiously while Mr. Nobody wiped away a tear of pride from his lone eye. "Atta girl!"

And there we go!

Got some housekeeping to get through, so let's get to it:

1) Mr. Nobody and the Brotherhood of Dada. I love these lunatics. They're so goddamn goofy, how could I not? Mr. Nobody seemed like a good inclusion just because the team is bigger than the regular show. I figured Brain could use some more muscle that wasn't just a generic monkey goon. And with Brain and Mallah traditionally being enemies of the Doom Patrol, why not use another? (Side note, the Doom Patrol show is amazing, please watch it.) The Brotherhood itself is not just Sleepwalk and Agent '!' though. I just grabbed one member from the first two incarnations, because they seemed the most fun. The other members, if you're curious, are Frenzy and The Love Glove, as well as including The Breeze and 50% Chad from the Brotherhood of Nada. Yes... this means that a pair of legs wearing boxers is now running around Earth-45. Be afraid.

2) Terry None. She will absolutely be appearing more because she is adorable and I love her. That's all I have to say.

3) Artemis doesn't trust Ace. This is gonna carry over for a while now. She is scared of her, for one important reason. See if you can guess why. She also might be a little iffy on Keemia's new relationship status with Ashley. We'll just have to see.

4) Dudley H. Dudley. Or rather, just Uncle Dudley. Is he in the Marvel family here? Yes. But just like in canon, he doesn't have powers. Just the costume. As for him being a conman, it's still sort of there. He just cons big-business now. He's a moral conman, if that exists. Chaotic Good at its finest. Billy also gets aged up a bit. I imagine that he gets his powers at 8 years old, and given the time that has passed since his appearance in Sandman Unlimited and Now, I figured he'd be about 12. The others do exist though. Mary, Pedro, Darla, Freddy, and Eugene are out there somewhere.

5) Mr. Tawny. He may or may not return. We shall see. But honestly, who doesn't want a talking tiger?

Well that covers the fun of Alpha Male, but next time we've got something else to deal with entirely...

An original chapter!

Yes, a new original chapter is coming. In a sort of adaptation of events from the Season of Infamy (VERY loosely), we will see Mr. Freeze on the loose, but how is Nyssa al Ghul involved? And who is the other menace out there? Is everything really as clear cut as the team thinks? One new girl will appear... and another girl will re-appear. All the way from the New Batman Adventures. Will Tim be ready for it?

As always, be sure to read and review. I love it when you leave them. Hopefully this new one comes a little faster for you guys.

Well, that should be everything.

Ciao for now!

~WafflesTheApprentice