FRIEND OR FOE
NIGHTWING'S EYES dilated in terror as he looked at the specs on the computer, Kid Flash pulling his mask back as he frowned. "Wait a minute; they wanna put these things in the air? How'd we even stop them?"
"We're talking over hundreds of millions of casualties." Nightwing's eyes darted over the screen.
"Well, you have to try and stop it somehow!"
"I can't – there're several labs like this one all over Amersia." Nightwing turned to him.
"Well, you have to do something!"
"Yeah, yeah, I can download the locations for each of the labs and have SHIELD teams launch coordinated attacks." Nightwing went to work on the computer.
"You're too late, Nightwing – the Sentries are already here." MODOC smirked as he began to hover again.
Nightwing's brows stitched when Supergirl's voice came on com. "Guys, we need to get outta here now."
BLUE BEETLE fired a sonic beam on a Sentry to his left and punched another aside to his right, rising into the air and diving down with a heavy kick on an oncoming machine. Looking around, he created a cannon as four more came from all sides. "Damn, how many of these things are there?"
"Well, we don't need to find out. We've got what we came for, so get to the Quinjet and we'll come for you." Nightwing's voice came on com.
"Got it, Boy Wonder." Supergirl smirked and shot lasers at a robot below.
KID FLASH pressed his ears against the wall, frowning as he heard heavy footsteps in the hall. "They're almost on us!"
"I just need a couple more minutes." Nightwing keyboarded hastily.
"We don't have any!" Kid Flash's eyes widened in panic as he ignored him. The wall exploded behind him, knocking him off his feet and he quickly scrambled up, looking at a silhouette standing in the dust cloud. "Oh man."
Superboy stomped on a Sentry's head and turned to Nightwing. "Hey, what's taking ya?"
"Okay, I'm done." Nightwing pulled out his flash drive and ran past Kid Flash.
"I thought you said you needed a couple minutes."
"That's relative." Nightwing entered the hall, gaining a frown from him. "Now come on, you wanna stay behind and wait for more to come?" Kid Flash muttered to himself and followed him along with Superboy who punched an android aside.
"LEXCORP ANNOUNCED a partnership with Amersian weapons designer Milton Fine during an anti-terrorism conference that included ambassadors and heads of state from around the world." A BBC anchor-woman read on Nightwing's tablet – the video changing to Luthor speaking at a podium. "This deal is not only profitable for LexCorp, but for Amersia as a whole. With the rising rate in attacks on our soil, we need to join together to fight the threat to our country and our lives."
Nightwing cut the video off and turned to the others in the Quinjet who were recuperating from the mission. "Seems Luthor's just going on about this as if we're not making a dent in his plans." Supergirl turned to him.
"Well, that's about to change."
"LUTHOR'S HOLDING a conference in New Washington that will, according to him, mark the end of terror attacks across the globe." Dick brought up documents on a screen behind him as he addressed the Teammates. "Ambassadors and Heads of State from North and South Amersia, Afrisia and Eurostralia will be arriving to discuss coordinated strikes using weapons Milton Fine will be unveiling that night."
"So, he wants to increase his reach by having his weapons stockpiled around the world. He could very well cause wars and benefit from them without being traced back like what he did with Rhelesia."
"Which is why our mission is to infiltrate and find out what Luthor's plans are exactly before we make our next move." Dick turned to the screen, showing specs he'd gotten from the Hydra base. "The intel we'd gotten from our last operation's still being decrypted as we speak, but at least we have an idea of what his plan might be. If he's trying to get the ambassadors to do the distribution of those canisters so they'd slip past detection and detonate, we'd be there to stop it."
"So, what's the play?" Supergirl leaned on the table.
"Security's gonna be tight, so I'll need a small team to take this one. Artemis, Aqualad, Batgirl, KF and I will go and listen in on the discussions while Daisy runs tactical from the base. Once the conference is over, we'll return and I'll debrief before our next op."
"Well, it's been a very long time since I've been on one of these ops – get to wear more black." Kid Flash sat back and sent a smirk Artemis' way.
"So, what're we supposed to do here?" Supergirl raised her brow.
"You'll wait until we've collected enough intel for the next mission." Dick turned to her.
"But, at least let me go with you – I can help."
"We need people who'll draw less attention and the 'S' and cape aren't exactly stealthy."
"I could use a disguise."
"Do we have a problem?" He raised his brow.
"I have a problem with leaving one of your strongest players behind." She stood up. "I mean, what if one of those robots are there? You'd definitely need a powerhouse on the team."
"I'm pretty sure I've got that covered." Kid Flash gave a smug smile.
"Kara, this mission requires stealth and that's a strength you don't have." Dick walked up to her.
"But I could –,"
"This is not up for discussion." Dick interrupted her, turning to the others. "Meet at the loading bay in twenty minutes." He left the room.
M'gann watched as the others left, seeing Kara stewing in the middle of the room. Kaldur walked past her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, drawing a frown from M'gann as the blonde smacked it aside. Seeing the Atlantean leave the room, she walked up to her. "Uh, Kara, is something wrong?"
"No, I'm fine." She began to leave.
"Are you sure?"
"I said I'm fine." She frowned.
"You know we're still here for you – you don't need to shut us out if something's wrong." M'gann turned to her.
"I'm fine." Kara enunciated and headed out of the room, leaving M'gann standing worriedly.
THE SOUNDS of the city of New Washington moved in the wind that flowed through Artemis' hair as she stood on a rooftop and took in the scenery. Pulling up her goggles, she watched as motorcades drove through the streets below, the sidewalks packed with onlookers and reporters who headed for the conference building. She drew out a small rifle and fired at streetlights, lampposts and buildings nearby, leaving small devices that beeped quietly.
"Cameras are in place around the building." She went on com and packed the weapon, fishing out her bow. "Moving to rendezvous point." She shot a tethered arrow at a building behind the conference and slid across it.
"Good, Aqualad, Batgirl, you're up." Nightwing spoke in his earpiece.
A SPECIAL ops officer roamed through a hall in the conference building, walking past a waitress who pushed a food cart toward an elevator. A Batarang flew onto the wall near a security camera and beeped, allowing for Batgirl to enter the corridor and fire darts into the necks of the man and woman, knocking them out. Aqualad stepped in and picked up the man as Batgirl dragged the woman along, entering the janitor's closet nearby.
The two stepped out, having donned the attire and Batgirl took the cart, moving toward the elevator and putting in the floor number. Entering the platform, she went down to the basement and disembarked, moving over to a corner behind the gas main where she stepped back and pulled a laptop from underneath. Taking a seat, she opened the laptop and began keyboarding.
"Okay, Dick, you're good to go." She picked an orange cube and went on com.
"Good work, Batgirl." Nightwing responded.
"Would it be weird if I said that I miss Batman?"
"What? You're going soft on me, Babs?"
"Hey, don't be hard on me!" She frowned.
"I thought you liked it when I was hard on you."
"Really, Dick?"
"You know we can all hear you, right? And can you quit arguing and tell me when I'm coming in?" Kid Flash yelled on the other end.
"In the middle of our session?" Batgirl's voice came.
"Dude!"
"JUST STICK to the plan, KF." Nightwing whispered on com as he walked up to a security guard at the entrance of the building, pulling out an ID card.
The man received it and ran it through the machine, nodding as it beeped. "Welcome, Liaison to the Amersian Military Ethan Hunt."
Nightwing nodded and entered the foyer of the building, glancing around as he went on com. "Ethan Hunt, seriously?"
"What? I had only thirty minutes to create an alias." Batgirl spoke with her mouth full.
"WELL, THIRTY minutes should be enough time." Nightwing's voice grew angry in her earpiece. "And are you eating on the job?"
"I'm dressed as a maid and I'm not gonna be delivering this to anyone, so why should I let it go to waste?" She bit into a shrimp.
"Hey, leave some for me." Kid Flash came on the other end.
"Well, see if you can make it here in time." She keyboarded and hit 'enter'. "Alright, you're clear."
"FINALLY." KID Flash stood in an alley behind the building disguised as a janitor and smirked as the light above the back door came on.
Moving through the hallways, he nodded to a couple of other janitors and headed for the elevator, going to the upper floors. Disembarking it, he walked toward a camera blind spot and sped around in place, going into his gear and placed his mop bucket in a closet. Zooming through different floors of the building, he placed small devices on the cameras, making sure to evade security guards and staff.
"The cameras are now in a loop." He went on com.
"Perfect, now we can simply watch as it begins." Nightwing responded.
WIND WHOOSHED past Batgirl as he grabbed a glass and a bottle from her, taking a seat nearby. "No alcohol on the job." He poured himself some.
"What about you then?" She raised her brow.
"Heightened metabolism." He took a sip.
"Is this what you could leave for me? Honestly?" Artemis picked the nearly empty shrimp platter and sat down.
"Picked you something on the way here." Kid Flash handed her a beer.
"Love ya, babe." She pecked him on the cheek.
"Hey, I thought you said no alcohol!" Batgirl pouted.
"Will you stop yelling in my ears!?" Nightwing whispered on com.
"Ooh, Milton Fine's on." Artemis leaned toward the laptop set atop the cart. "And he is fine."
"Really?" Kid Flash raised his brow. "That's the best you could come up with?"
"Shush!" Batgirl grabbed the wine from him, slurping loudly as she turned to the video feed.
MILTON FINE, a man of average height clad in a suit stood on stage before a sea of dignitaries seated at different tables, moving up to the microphone as he began to speak: "In the many years I've worked in the weapon's industry, one thing has reigned true: you achieve more when you work with others. This is a time when the world is consumed by war and terror and what's sorely needed is unity." He lifted up a flash drive. "In these flash drives are directives for coordinated attacks on terrorist camps discovered in the past few months. If approved, LexCorp will aid all the nations present in initiating the first steps in eradicating the threat of terror." He nodded to a man nearby who gestured for others to hand the drives around. "Let us begin with –," An aide walked up to him and whispered in his ear. "What?"
Aqualad frowned as he stood in the corner of the room, posing as a guard who watched over the proceedings. "What's going on?" He glanced at Nightwing who sat at a table across from him.
BATGIRL'S BROWS stitched as she watched Milton speak to his aide in a slight panic. "Something's wrong."
"Guys, cameras have detected movement on the east side of the building." Artemis held a small device up to Batgirl.
Keyboarding hastily, Batgirl pulled up a video feed of soldiers opening fire on a woman clad in a black hoody and jeans near some bushes. The woman shielded herself from the onslaught and punched a man aside, revealing her face to the cameras. "Kara?"
"WHAT DID you just say?" Nightwing went com.
"Kara's fighting some guards on the west side of the building." Batgirl responded.
"Dammit." He glanced around, seeing that nobody had heard him. "Abort mission, repeat abort mission." He groaned and rose to his feet, glancing at Aqualad who looked at him then began to walk away.
Stepping away from his table, Nightwing moved past a security guard and flashed his ID, heading into the hallways. Moving past an elevator, he began unbuttoning his shirt and muttered angrily to himself, quickly followed by Aqualad who removed his jacket. "What about the conference?"
"Surveillance should be able to pick up enough intel for us." Nightwing disrobed his coat. "Best not to be here in case they apprehend Kara." He frowned.
"Guys, surveillance cameras in the conference halls just went down." Batgirl's voice came.
"What?" Nightwing halted.
"I just lost the signal and I can't get 'em back online."
"What is going on here?" Aqualad frowned when gunshots echoed.
"Were those gunshots?" Batgirl came on com.
Nightwing looked around as they echoed again. "We've gotta move."
NIGHTWING AND Aqualad ran into the conference room in disguise, met with shock as they looked around in confusion. Billows of smoke and sparks sprayed out all over as the dignitaries lay dead over the tables and on the floor. Moving through the carnage, the two investigated as the corpses each had bullet wounds while others had burn marks. Nightwing walked up to a man and studied his head, seeing several veins popping out.
"Uh, guys, what happened?" Kid Flash voice came on com.
"Everyone's dead in the conference hall." Nightwing frowned.
"What?"
"Looks like the scene of a shootout."
"Any signs of who did this?" Batgirl asked.
"No."
"But Luthor isn't here." Aqualad looked to the stage, staring at the seat of the man in question.
Milton groaned as he came two on the platform, rubbing his head groggily as he looked around and gasped in shock at the horrid sight. "Wha-what happened here?!"
"Mr Fine, are you alright?" Nightwing ran toward him, followed by Aqualad as they got onto the stage.
"I, I think so." He grunted and held his bloodied arm.
"Do you remember anything that happened here, sir?" Nightwing helped him up.
"There were gunshots and –," Milton gasped and jerked back in shock, alarming Nightwing and Aqualad who looked in the direction he was facing.
Kara hovered in the centre of the room, her tattered clothes revealing bits of the leotard underneath as she moved forward, her eyes set straight ahead. She stared Milton down and frowned, her eyes glowing red as she focussed on him when a bright light came from behind her. Helicopter propellers echoed and footsteps invaded her ears as soldiers burst into the room. She looked to the podium, seeing Nightwing and Aqualad had gone and she sifted her mind.
"Open fire!" A soldier commanded.
Shielding her face from the bullets, she flew up and broke through the ceiling, leaving the soldiers looking around in confusion. Moving past the corpses, the militia came to Milton's side and offered him assistance as medics surrounded him and tended to his wounds. Kara flew over the conference building and saw several reporters outside, zooming through the skies and leaving the area.
"KARA DID what?" Batgirl raised her brow as she took a seat in the Quinjet.
"How's that even possible? Didn't we leave her back at the Door?" Kid Flash's face exuded confusion.
"Perhaps she left without our knowledge." Aqualad removed his jacket.
"But if she wanted to accompany us on the mission so badly, couldn't she have just pinpointed us with infrared vision or something and just came to us?" Artemis sat back.
"I need to speak to her." Nightwing frowned.
"WHAT THE hell was that!?" Dick stood before Kara in the briefing room, surrounded by the Teammates who sat at the table. "You disobeyed orders, jeopardized the mission and nearly exposed yourself."
"I can explain –,"
"And why did you try to kill Milton? He's a public figure and most likely a pawn to Lex's schemes and –,"
"He isn't!" Kara frowned and shook her head, pacing around slightly as she crossed her arms. "He isn't who he says he is."
"Then who is he?" Kaldur turned to her.
"He's Brainiac."
"What?" Wally raised his brow.
"How is he Brainiac?" Connor crossed his arms.
"Isn't he supposed to be some Darth Vader alien guy?" Jaime sat back.
"No, he's Brainiac and I'd sensed him the moment he came on the news." Kara turned to Dick.
"Then why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"Because I needed to be sure, I couldn't just attack him like that."
"Like you just did?" Wally gave a smug look.
"Wait, how is he possibly on earth? Doesn't he destroy worlds? What would he gain by pretending to be a human?" Raven leaned against the table.
"Among many of his powers, Brainiac is a shape-shifter and Milton Fine must be his alias on earth – I just don't know what he's doing here." Kara looked to the others.
"Kara, what you did was dangerous and reckless." Dick turned to her. "You nearly ruined the whole operation in one fell swoop –,"
"He destroyed my home planet and took my family away from me! I couldn't let that happen."
"But if you'd told us, we could've come up with a better plan – maybe bring in these … Avengers and they could help us stop him." Dick frowned.
"There's no way of stopping him."
"Then what was your plan supposed to be tonight?"
"I don't know." She rubbed her forehead and huffed. "I really do not know what to do now that I know he's here, he … he seemed less of a threat when we dealt with his pawns – I never really thought I'd actually be confronting him." She began to tear up.
"So, your plan was to merely throw everything aside." Kaldur stood up. "You were going to sacrifice yourself."
"I don't know." Tears rolled down her cheek. "I don't know what to do about him." She wiped her face. "I still feel like my powers are worthless against him, like-like I'm just that little helpless girl back on Krypton."
"But you're not, Kara." Kaldur walked up to her. "You have us, you have the Team and we're by your side."
"Hey, we did take down the War World and the Reach and saved the world – we're gonna do it again." Dick smirked.
"You don't understand – Brainiac is way worse than anything you've ever seen –,"
"Then let us face him together." Kaldur placed a hand on her shoulder. "Whether we lose or not, let's do it as a Team."
Kara looked into his hopeful eyes and sniffled, shaking her head slightly. "You don't understand."
"I don't need to; all I know is that we will defeat him together."
"Yeah, show a bit more faith in the team, mi amigo! We can do this." Jaime smirked and crossed his arms.
Kara gazed around the room, looking at each of her friends though her head still shook. "I." She inhaled. "I don't know I just … okay, if Brainiac's here; there's no running from it. I can't run from it."
"You won't need to." Kaldur gave her a reassuring smile.
"Okay." She nodded slightly.
Dick looked at his watch and turned to the others. "Well, it's been a long night. Let's get some rest and we'll meet tomorrow." He headed out of the room, moving past Kara who wiped her face and glanced at Kaldur as she left.
"THERE ONCE was a fish without a head. He was a great thinker and wore many hats!" Dr Cello bellowed as he fried eggs in the kitchen in the morning. "And he had many beards! He would always roast his hair!"
Wally shook his head as the scientist hit higher notes, moving past Cher who read a comic book in the living room and took a seat. He turned on the TV, munching on cereal as he tuned through the stations, stopping on the morning news.
"We now go to footage to the attack on the conference last night." An anchor man read the report and brought a video of Kara flying around and firing lasers on the dignitaries in the building and attacking soldiers.
"What the hell?"
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