Thanks to everyone who has been reading! I know my updates are slow but I hope that the quality of the chapters makes up for that! Don't forget to fav, follow and review!
To respond to a guest review: First and foremost, in this story, Robin is still considered to be the first official 'sidekick'. He began working with Batman when he was nine, which would put him a year ahead of Kara (Dick Grayson is considered by many to be the pioneer of the superhero-sidekick thing with his appearance as Robin in the original Batman comics back in the 30s and 40s). However, Kara has worked with Leaguers for a total of six years, due to her grandfather's connection to members of the League that include, but are not limited to Black Canary, Batman and Zatara. This would put Kara at the forefront of the training of the protégés, granting her the designation B01. Also sorry about the quotes, but I was actually in a rush to finish working on Chapter 4 because it had taken me so long. You'll see more originality from Kara in upcoming chapters.
And for everyone wanting a pairing, don't worry, there's one coming...
Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing pertaining to Young Justice, aside from my OC.
Drop-Zone
Mount Justice
July 22, 19:03 EDT
Batman had gathered us in front of the computers in the Cave to brief us on our first mission. I was excited, but there was a lingering sense of concern that settled in the back of my mind. We had yet to choose a leader, and if we didn't make a decision soon, I had a feeling a certain Boy Wonder would start making decisions for us.
"Isla Santa Prisca." Batman began to brief us with a geographic image of Santa Prisca appearing behind him, "This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neo-steroid. A strength enhancing drug sold under the street name 'Venom'. Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of Venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in."
Oddly enough, GA and Roy (before his little meltdown) had taken down a Venom operation in Star City a few months back. Dinah and I had acted as consultants during their raid. I knew this drug. A small grin tugged at the corner of my mouth as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"This is a covert mission only." Batman continued, "Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will."
Robin stepped forward and asked the question I was dreading.
"So who's in charge?"
Batman and Red Tornado exchanged a glance.
"Work that out between you. Now, get ready. You leave in one hour."
I changed into my standard black body suit before clapping on the personalized body armor that Dinah insisted I have. After that, I simply waited in the hangar for the rest of the team to arrive, taping my gloved hands slowly to pass the time, before being joined by M'gann and Superboy.
"What are you doing in here by yourself, Kara?" M'gann asked. My cowl hung around my neck so I was able to look her directly in the eye when I replied.
"Never been the social type, M'gann. I usually like to have some time to mentally prepare myself for missions and patrols. It's something I picked up from my grandfather."
"Your grandfather?" Superboy asked. I nodded with malice at the thought of the one and only Ted Grant.
"We had a bit of a falling out a few years ago. We don't talk much anymore. But he taught me the basics; he was a world-class fighter back in the day. After he retired from the ring, he started teaching. I started when I was ten." I explained. I didn't want to go into too much detail. Especially since I could see Kid, Robin and Aqualad all approaching us.
"Started what when you were ten, Cat?" Robin called. I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation. Now wasn't the best time to share my life story.
"My training," I replied stiffly,"I don't want to get into details. Let's just get going."
It took a couple of hours to reach Santa Prisca. Everyone in the bioship was silent as we reached the island, the silence only being broken when M'gann announced our approach on the first drop-zone.
"Drop-zone A in 30."
The first few steps in our mission had been preplanned for us by Batman. The first drop-zone was about a mile from the shores of Santa Prisca. Aqualad would swim onto shore and patch through the heat and motion sensors, allowing the bioship to fly over in camouflage mode without any worry of detection. The rest of us would land at drop-zone B and meet Aqualad at the designated rendezvous point. After that, Batman simply said to observe and report, which, considering we were with Robin and Kid Flash, could have meant a multitude of different outcomes.
"Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in." Aqualad whispered over the comm. A few minutes later, we arrived at the second drop-zone.
Wally tapped the lightning bolt on his chest to activate his new stealth tech. Yellow and red transformed into gray and black. M'gann traded her white shirt and blue skirt for a black body suit, while I pulled my cowl over my head.
"Superboy, are you sure you don't want to use the new stealth tech?" I asked the Kryptonian, who was wearing his usual outfit. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"No capes, no tights. No offense."
"It totally works for you." M'gann said airily. When she realized that people were staring, she tried to recover. "In that you can totally do good work in those clothes."
I did my best to stifle my laughter; obviously, she was crushing on Superboy. I can't say I blame her. Superboy is a good-looking guy; must be a Kryptonian thing...
Anyway, Kid, Robin and I all watched as M'gann created cables for us before clipping them onto our belts. The three of us landed silently on the ground below us. M'gann levitated just above us while Superboy crashed behind us. The clone stood up and brushed the dirt off his hands with a smug grin.
"Knew I didn't need a line."
"I hate to say it," I replied with a scowl, "but creating a small seismic event isn't exactly my idea of being covert."
"Aqualad, drop B is go." M'gann quietly informed over the comm.
"Head for the factory," the Atlantean replied, "I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP."
"Roger that."
We continued on toward the factory. When we reached a forked area in the jungle, the five of us hesitated to regroup.
I drew my cowl over my face and tapped my wrist comm to activate the night-vision function in my mask. While my eyes adjusted, Superboy stiffened next to me.
"Did you hear that?"
"You're the only one with super hearing, Superboy. We didn't hear anything." I replied.
"You do have great ears." M'gann swooned. I bit my tongue to keep myself from laughing. Wally obviously took no notice of the Martian's infatuation.
"Ok, Rob. Now what?" The speedster asked the empty space where the 13-year old once stood, "Man, I hate it when he does that!"
Aqualad rang in over the comm, "Superboy, Kid, switch to infrared. See if you're being tracked."
Both boys did as asked. KF's goggles hid his expression, but Superboy's eyes narrowed when he saw something moving through the jungle.
"Got a squad of armed bozos incoming." Wally announced quietly.
"Two squads, actually." Superboy replied, "But they'll meet each other before they reach us."
The sound of rapid gunfire tore through the jungle a moment later, telling us that the two squads were in the middle of a turf war.
"Guess we don't need any super hearing now." Wally declared. I pondered the situation silently. If we tried to cut through the firefight, we would end up either dead or captured. We would have to veer away and go wide around the fight to avoid being detected. I turned to the others.
"We need to go wide and avoid this fight. If we cut it too close, we could botch the entire mission before it's even begun."
"Yeah, sure thing, Whiskers, just as soon as I find Rob." Kid replied as he stepped forward toward the gunfire. Before I could stop him, the speedster took off toward the gunmen only to trip over his own feet and land in the no man's land between the two squads.
"If those goons don't kill that moron, I might." I growled, "Let's go get him."
The three of us leapt out and went to work taking out the gunmen. Seconds later, we were joined by none other than the Boy Wonder, who had apparently been hiding in the surrounding trees. He took out two men and was clearly surprised when he saw that we hadn't followed his lead.
"What's the matter with you guys? Why didn't you follow my lead and vanish into the jungle?"
"That's what you were doing?" Kid yelled as he took out a goon that was trying to shoot him down, "Way to fill us in. We aren't all mind readers, you know."
"You guys told me I could only read the bad guys' minds." M'gann pointed out. I smirked as I took down the last of the gunmen, while Rob tossed me a rope to tie them up to a few trees. The ones that were decked in blood red cloaks and black masks seemed familiar, though I couldn't recall when I had seen them. Robin was able to clear away my confusion as we were joined by Aqualad.
"Those uniforms belong to the Cult of the Kobra."
"Then this runs deeper than we thought." I replied, concern swelling in the pit of my stomach. "Batman obviously didn't know that an extremist group had taken over the Venom operation here on Santa Prisca. If he did, he would have told us."
"Agreed." Rob nodded in my direction, "And since there's clearly no love loss between the cultists and these goons, I'm betting Kobra came in and kicked them out. That's why normal supply lines have been cut off."
"We get it. Kobra wanted super-cultists." Kid groaned, "Mystery solved. Radio Bats and we'll be home in time-"
"These cultists aren't on Venom. Kobra's hoarding the stuff! We don't leave. Not until I know why." The Boy Wonder replied. Wally stepped forward crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down at the younger boy.
"Until you know why?"
"This team needs a leader." Robin explained.
"And it's you? Dude, you're a thirteen year old kid, who ducked out on us without a word!"
I groaned loudly as Wally and Rob continued to argue with each other and leaned up against a nearby tree to watch them bicker. To my surprise, Kaldur joined me soon after.
"You seem upset." He observed. I gave a scoff-like laugh as I looked over at him from behind my cowl.
"Lately I've grown concerned over Robin's attitude toward finding a team leader. Considering how Batman currently leads the League, I've been worried that Robin would take it upon himself to take the position of leader."
Kaldur nodded and set a gentle hand on my shoulder, "I understand. His experience is what may prevent him from being the best leader for this team."
I smiled up at him, "Precisely."
"Does that mean you hold an interest in being leader?" Kaldur asked. I looked back over at the others and shrugged, my smile fading.
"I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it. But I don't see myself leading this team."
"Who do you see leading us, then?"
I hesitated for a moment; I had given that a lot of thought too. Warmth spread up through my cheeks as I replied, "I actually was thinking of-"
I was interrupted by a deep chuckle coming from one of the goons we tied up earlier. He was a bulky guy, one of the biggest guys in the group. A luchador mask hid his face.
"Such clever niños. But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest. Get you into the factory via my secret entrance." The man said in a deep, accented voice.
M'gann walked over to the man and kneeled in front of him, prying into his mind.
"There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something."
"Ah, ah, ah, chica. Bane is not that easy." The man replied smartly.
"Ugh," the Martian growled, "He's mentally reciting futbol scores en español. This could take a while."
"It's not complicated. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Bane said slyly. I narrowed my eyes. Bane wasn't to be trusted; that much was obvious to me. Nevertheless, Robin and Kid Flash untied the masked man and allowed him to lead us to a nearby ridge overlooking the factory. The Boy Wonder pulled out a pair of binoculars to get a closer view of the factory and its inhabitants.
"Wildcat, take a look at this," Robin called. I walked over a grabbed the binoculars from him and looked down at what he was pointing to. What I saw was surprising, to say the least. There was a shit ton of product waiting for pickup. Stacks of crates and tons of armed Kobra guards were surrounding a helipad.
"Holy shit. Look at all of that product! Somebody has to be buying and, whoever it is, has some serious cash flow. This can't be going to the typical drug-lords that use Venom." I whispered.
"I agree." Kaldur muttered. "We need to identify the buyer."
"Just what I was thinking." Wally commented. I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue. There was nothing I wanted more than to wipe that grin off of Wally's smug face, but now wasn't the time.
"Yeah, you're the thinker." Rob replied sarcastically.
"Sarcasm? Dude, a real leader would focus on getting answers." Wally shot back. Not far off, Bane pushed a large boulder off of what at first appeared to be a mound of earth and stone. In its place, an old mining tunnel stood.
"Answers are this way."
I looked over at Kaldur questioningly and saw him giving me the same look. Neither of us wanted to do this. But what other options did we have?
"Let's go, then." I replied to Bane.
He simply nodded and began walking into the tunnel. Kid was clearly unhappy with our guide, but he followed anyway.
"So, now El Luchador is our leader?"
"Enough with the complaining, KF." I snapped as Rob punched the speedster in the arm.
A few minutes later we were inside the factory. Robin scoped out the area before giving us the signal that the floor was clear. We all snuck in quietly and began making our way toward the main hangar, but Bane stopped us when he realized that Robin had vanished.
"Has that little fool already been caught?"
Aqualad sighed, "No. He just does that."
"Stay here." Wally whispered as he lowered his goggles over his eyes, "I'll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder."
Then he was gone.
"Kid, hold on!" Kaldur called quietly, but it was pointless; the speedster was gone.
"Great chain of command." Bane said smartly. I clenched my taped fists tightly, trying to resist the urge to punch Bane in the face. Kaldur's slight glare at me encouraged me to keep my hands to myself for the time being.
Bane then led us over to a wall of crates that hid us from the Kobra sentries that guarded the hangar. Stacks and stacks of crates of new product were being brought out to a helipad.
"Man, with all of that product, a buy has to be happening." I gasped, noticing that Kobra himself was there, waiting for his client to arrive.
"Yeah, but they're only taking new product off the line." Superboy pointed out, gesturing to the crates we were hiding behind, "They're not touching this Venom."
"Maybe freshness counts?" M'gann offered. I shook my head.
"I don't think so. Something else is going on here. Whatever it is, it has to do with the new line of Venom."
"Helicopter incoming." Superboy interrupted. 30 seconds later, a helicopter landed on the pad and was swarmed by Kobra sentries. I set a hand on M'gann's shoulder and nodded toward the cultists.
"Can you see who the buyer is? Use camouflage mode to see whoever it is and send a telepathic image back to Aqualad." The Martian nodded in response, went camo and flew off toward the crowd. Next to me, Kaldur waited quietly for M'gann's image, eyes closed, breathing steady.
"Sportsmaster!?" He said suddenly, "He is the buyer!?"
My breath hitched. Sportsmaster was easily one of the most dangerous villains Dinah and I have ever faced. If he was involved, that meant that there was a possibility that the League of Shadows was involved too.
"Aqualad to Red Tornado. Do you read? Ugh!"I looked over at Kaldur, as did Superboy.
"Can't reach the League, Robin, or Kid. Comm's jammed." Great. Just what we needed.
"Then, we're gonna need a plan. And we're gonna need it now." I answered.
Bane then stood up and grinned, "I have a suggestion." He leapt over the crates with a shout and started to attack the cultists.
"What the hell is that guy doing?" I yelled over the sound of rapid gunfire. Superboy and I both jumped the crates and started to fight off sentries, shortly being joined by Kid and M'gann. Robin was confronting Kobra. As we fought, a familiar voice resounded in my head.
"Everyone online?"
"Yeah."
"I hear you."
"You know it, beautiful."
"Good. We need to regroup." Aqualad instructed.
"But busy now." Robin replied. I could see him moving to confront Kobra; a fight that he would most definitely lose.
"Robin, no joke, get back here now!" I shouted telepathically. The Boy Wonder hesitated for a moment, but left to rejoin us nonetheless.
"Strategic retreat. Kid, clear a path."
"You got it." Kid flashed a grin as he lowered his goggles and took off, allowing us to retreat into the tunnels. Not far behind us, a cluster of goons and a giant creature that looked like a Cadmus experiment gone wrong, followed.
"Superboy! Take out the support beams! Cut them off from us!" I yelled.
A roar from the clone, followed by a quaking throughout the tunnel told me that Superboy had done as asked. Once we were certain that we were in the clear, Kaldur and I ignited a few light sticks and tossed them on the ground, bathing the tunnel in an eerie red light. Robin leaned against the new wall of dirt and stone that separated us from the factory and began to think aloud.
"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?"
"You do have the most experience," Kaldur pointed out, "but perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman your roles are defined. You two do not need to talk. But this team is new. And a leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play a part in an unknown plan."
"Oh, so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hand?" Robin lashed. I set a hand on his shoulder and he recomposed himself. He turned to face Kaldur.
"Who am I kidding? You should lead us, Kaldur. You're the only one who can."
"Please! I can run circles around-"
"Wally," I interrupted, "You can't deny it. You know he's the one." I looked over at Kaldur and smiled.
"We all do."
"Hello, Megan! It's so obvious!"
"Could've told ya."
Wally hesitated but eventually smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, "Ok."
"Then I accept the burden, until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders." The Atlantean said, striding over to Robin and setting a hand on his shoulder, "You were born to lead this team, maybe not now, but soon."
Our new leader turned to face the rest of us, "Alright. Our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving this island."
Robin smirked, "Funny, I had the same thought."
With our new plan set, we took off toward the entrance to the tunnel. As we ran, Kaldur, Robin, Kid and I discussed what the Boy Wonder and speedster had found when they disappeared earlier in the factory. Turns out Kobra combined Venom with the Blockbuster formula to create a stronger, permanent variant of Venom, which explained the creature that was chasing us in the tunnel.
"So hang on, something doesn't add up," I said as I ran beside Robin, "Sportsmaster is our buyer and supplier but there's no way he could have acquired Project Blockbuster on his own or to hire Kobra to do his dirty work."
"And neither of them had the brains to combine Blockbuster with Venom." Wally continued, running at regular speed, "That took some major nerdage."
"I believe the expression is 'tip of the iceberg'." Aqualad finished as we reached the entrance to the tunnel. Once there, we were stopped by none other than Bane, who had vanished during the initial fight.
"Halt niños. I'm feeling... explosive." In his hand, he held a trigger system that connected to a series of small charges the surrounded the entrance to the tunnel.
"You betrayed us! Why?" Aqualad said, visibly surprised by Bane's action.
"I want my factory back." Bane explained.
"Kid, get a running start for this." Kaldur ordered mentally as Bane continued to explain his actions.
"So, I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying. If the latter, the Justice League would surely come to avenge their sidekicks. And when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would be mine once more. Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect."
Bane made to set off the charges, but nothing happened.
"With what? This trigger thingy?" Kid asked smartly, waving the trigger around while leaning against a nearby tree. Bane tried to grab Kid, but M'gann lifted him off the ground before he could reach him. With the drug boss levitating in the air, Superboy stepped forward cracking his knuckles and grinning.
"Finally... drop him."
I waited in the shadows with M'gann to ambush Sportsmaster's helicopter. As we waited, M'gann engaged me in small talk.
"So, what were you and Aqualad talking about earlier?"
I turned my face away to hide my blush, "Nothing. We were just discussing who we thought should lead the Team."
"Wildcat, Miss Martian, move!" Kaldur's voice rang out in my mind. Deftly, I moved toward the helicopter from the opposite direction of Miss Martian who would serve as a distraction for Sportsmaster while I planted a charge. M'gann was clearly no match for Sportsmaster but she gave me enough time to do my job without detection. Once Sportsmaster took off, M'gann and Superboy set off the explosive and sent our bad guy spiraling down. We rejoined Kaldur, Wally, and Robin as Kobra disappeared into the jungle.
"We picked the right guy to lead." Robin said with his signature smirk, walking toward our new leader, "Making you the perfect guy to explain this mess to Batman."
"A simple recon mission. Observe and report." Batman scolded us back in the Cave as soon as we finished explaining what happened. "You will each receive a written report detailing your many mistakes. Until then... good job."
Whoa. Batman just complimented us. I should've been recording this moment to cherish forever.
"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy." Did he just quote The Art of War? "How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And who you choose to lead determines character. Official training sessions will begin in ten days. Until then, get some rest."
We all nodded and dispersed. As I made my way to the zeta tubes, a hand fell on my shoulder stopping me. It was Kaldur.
"I hate to keep you from returning to Star City, but something has been on my mind."
"What would that be?" I asked, arching a brow.
"Who had you truly thought to be fit to lead the Team?"
I smirked as I stepped back into the zeta tube.
"Recognized: Wildcat, B zero one."
"You, Kaldur." I replied.
And then I was gone.