Scene 39 - Broken
Kaldur inspected all the subjects in the pods as the Reach Scientist explained about the meta-gene. So this was what the kidnapped teenagers were used for, as guinea pigs for experiments. He stopped in front of La'gaan's pod as a little probe sent electrical shocks into his shoulder. Continuing the conversation, the blonde said softly, "But La'gaan already has powers. He is Atlantean, hardly an average human."
The female scientist took a step forward to stand beside him as she admired her test subjects, "Ah, but his powers are based on training in sorcery. Beyond that, he is an average Atlantean, is he not?"
Kaldur'ahm could only look at his friend sadly and the scientist proceeded to lead him to another chamber.
"Now, in this lab, we study humans with active meta-genes," She stepped forth in front of two pods and the Atlantean grimaced slightly at the sight of Impulse and Beast Boy wincing in pain from more intense-looking electrical shocks. The scientist continued, "And how they respond to various levels of stress." The two young teens continued to scream.
"The goal is to learn if their abilities can be extracted or duplicated," The female stepped directly in front of Kaldur and looked straight into his eyes as he replied coolly, "I see. You seek to weaponize the meta-gene."
Right now, he was very relieved that Brianna was not in one of the pods. His promise to keep her out of harm's way has been working so far. He did not know what the Scientist would do to her as the brunette's powers were granted by a mystical being.
The female smiled and turned towards the Ambassador, "You never mentioned he was clever." The Ambassador returned the smile and they left the chamber with Kaldur following suit after he stared at the young heroes who were in pain. "A pleasure meeting you, Kaldur'ahm," The scientist almost purred with delight as she went into another unknown chamber.
"Blue Beetle is unaccounted for. I assume he is inside this third lab?" The Atlantean asked casually and the Ambassador frowned, "That particular laboratory does not concern you or your masters, The Light. And frankly, neither does Blue Beetle. He may be human but he is of the Reach."
The alien walked away and Kaldur narrowed his eyes, "As you say." He then trailed behind the male Reach citizen.
"The new test subjects?" The Ambassador asked and Kaldur replied, "Soon to be on their way. My best operative oversees the shipment."
Without looking back, the alien said, "Gratitude."
Ember sat in the bio-ship as it tailed behind the Manta Flyer undetected. Nightwing looked at his holographic scanner on his wrist, "Good, they're leading us to Lagoon Boy and the others."
Wonder Girl looked at the team leader and asked, "How can you be sure?" The ex-Boy Wonder switched off his scanner, "Wishful thinking?"
The blonde girl added on, "And the abductees shipment at the docks, how did you know about that?" Cassie might have been bad at stealth, but she was quite inquisitive and Nightwing replied, "Aquaman came across the intel while searching for La'gaan."
At the sound of the monarch's name, Brianna couldn't help but inquire, "And our traitorous ex-leader?"
Dick looked towards the brunette and shook his head, "Nothing about him, but there's a high chance that wherever this Manta flyer is going to, Aqualad will be there."
Ember crossed her arms and made a small hmm sound. The upcoming encounter with him might not be a pretty one and she had to be prepared. They continued the journey and soon, the Team encountered the Manta flyer docking at a huge alien-looking vessel.
"So, this is the Light's partner. That ship shares the same alien design sensibility as the bomb that destroyed Malina Island and Mount Justice."
Wonder Girl shifted in her seat and gazed carefully at the ship, "Kind of reminds me of Blue's armour."
Dick turned his head away briefly and frowned before looking at M'gann, "Miss M, you're up."
Quietly, the Martian transformed into her underwater gear and pulled the hood up over her head before density shifting through the floor into the water. Ember then took over the ship's controls.
Alpha Squad, I'm heading into the alien ship. Are you aboard? The red-headed Martian asked and Batgirl's voice rang out. Affirmative. We're in some kind of docking bay. We have a visual on the new aliens, a.k.a. the Krolotean's competitor, a.k.a. the Light's Partner. And we've got other company, it's Aqualad. If he meets us, we're over.
Brianna shifted in her seat eagerly and Nightwing gave out more instructions. Stay whelmed, he won't be looking for you. Just don't attract attention.
"Now I really wish I joined Superboy with the infiltration…" Ember said and briefly thought of their little farewell where she planted a kiss on his cheek for good luck and Conner hugged her in return.
"You wouldn't have been able to use your powers in the Manta trooper suit though," Nightwing replied and gave her a reassuring smile, "Just be patient, Bri. You'll be able to slap Kaldur's face soon enough."
I found Gar and Bart. They're unconscious but alive. No sign of Jaime or La'gaan. M'gann interrupted their conversation with their telepathic link and Batgirl replied. We've got eyes on Lagoon Boy and… Shimmer? Ugh. Plus four civilians and all the teens we came with.
There was silence for a few seconds and Barbara spoke again. We're unsupervised now but Blue's still unaccounted for and escape could trigger a response, do we wait?
Nightwing looked at the alien's ship with determination. Negative Alpha, make your move before you need rescuing too. You too Miss M, get our boys.
Now it was time to play the waiting game as they needed Superboy's confirmation and their patience paid off as Conner finally used the psychic link. Docking bay secured.
Dick gave out another order, "Ember, bring us in." The brunette nodded and piloted the bio-ship towards alien vessel.
M'gann's ship made contact with the rectangular protrusions and Brianna said psychically. Docking now.
Cassie was at the door of the bay as it opened up, "Alright people, let's move!"
Ember then flew out of the seat to join in the rescue.
Kaldur'ahm heard the chirps and tweets of the Reach's alarm system sounding throughout the ship and knew that Dick was following through his plan of a rescue mission. He deliberately slowed his footsteps to buy the Team some time to escape.
Walking down a corridor, he heard a familiar voice. "You!" M'gann said angrily and added on, "Murderer!"
The Martian then infiltrated his mind forcefully and the Atlantean stood rooted to the spot as they fought a psychic battle. She broke through whatever mental defences he had and Kaldur yelled in pain before dropping to the floor.
Ember joined Wonder Girl at the entrance to the bio-ship as they counted and watched the civilians run to safety. Batgirl and Robin ran into the docking bay and nodded to Superboy.
M'gann, where are you guys? M'gann? Conner asked telepathically and when there wasn't a reply he said out loud, "The link's down, I'm going in." He proceeded to run out of the docking bay and Ember was about to follow him but he was knocked back into the room.
"Superboy!" Ember cried out and a huge imposing figure clad in black armor walked in, "Apologies meat, but no one goes anywhere." His voice dripped with danger before he reached up to touch the wall and all the doors were sealed tight.
The alarm system stopped chirping in the docking bay and Wonder Girl stood up against him bravely, "Listen, er, Black Beetle! You're totally outnumbered! Open those doors now and we'll go easy on you."
Black Beetle gave the blonde an amused grin, "You… will go easy on me?" He then stood up, laughing manically as his armor shot out two protrusions on his back.
"Oh that is not a good sign," Bumblebee whispered.
Kaldur was still on his knees as he was given a reprieve but it was short lived when M'gann began to cruelly break his mind. Memories of the Team's first year was seemingly sucked out of his head and he tried so desperately to hold them back but they just flowed out like a burst pipe. Time seemed to speed up as it reached the moment where he and Nightwing shook hands at the grotto, silently sealing the agreement of his undercover infiltration of the Light. It led to a new set of memories where Artemis's fake death was revealed and she was given a new identity as Tigress. All the secret undercover work Kaldur did was laid out openly in front of M'gann. After those memories passed, the Martian appeared to have unlocked another door which contained all his treasured time with Brianna.
It was too late to stop the onslaught as Miss Martian used her powers at full force. She looked on with disbelief at the truth and was torn at Kaldur's very big love for Ember. M'gann did her best to slow down the extraction but memories of the Atlantean's first kiss to his last goodbye with Ember flew by quickly. Tears formed in Aqualad's eyes as he was slowly losing all his precious thoughts about a certain brunette and the final image he saw before he collapsed to the floor was a picture of Brianna's smiling face. He held onto to it for a micro second before thoughts of her face and name were destroyed.
The Martian reeled back in shock and whispered a quiet "No…" and watched as Kaldur'ahm fell to the floor, broken.
The Team was fighting for their lives as they threw everything they had at Black Beetle who just shrugged them off like bugs. Ember dodged all of his attacks and flew above him to rain fire down on the villain which appeared to hurt him. He looked up at the brunette with annoyance and to her surprise, he unleashed a set of grappling hooks; two bounded her hands and the third caught her by the abdomen and brought the girl closer to him.
"So it appears your powers are mystical. No matter…" He said darkly as Superboy charged at him, "Let her go!"
Black Beetle effortlessly took out the half-Kryptonian with one hand and Brianna cringed before he looked around the room at the other heroes still standing around and he promptly threw her aside at a special angle where it dislocated all her fingers in one hand, preventing the girl from using her powers. Ember howled in pain and fell unconscious when she hit the wall. The rest of the Team went after Black Beetle one by one but were defeated quickly. Even one of the kidnapped teens tried to stop him with a laser gun but he was kicked away by Shimmer.
Superboy and Wonder Girl woke up just in time and tackled the giant head on. It was a valiant effort by the teens but their heavy hitters, including Miss Martian and Superboy, were soon defeated. All hope seemed lost but they were saved in the nick of time by Blue Beetle.
While Jaime kept Black Beetle busy, Batgirl, Beast Boy, and Impulse slowly rescued their various unconscious team members back into the bio-ship. Superboy struggled to sit up and held his head in his hands. Black Beetle really did a number on him.
He looked around to find Ember by his side but he noticed her fingers were bent at an awkward position. Water flooded into the hold and he pulled her up so her head wasn't in contact with it and he vaguely heard Batgirl telling Nightwing to seal the hold and fly out. It was a perilous escape attempt as Dick swung the bio-ship around to avoid the lasers from the Reach's ship. Sharp-eyed Batgirl spotted Blue Beetle floating out in the ocean and quickly summoned Lagoon Boy to bring Jaime in. Lady Luck appeared to be on their side today and everyone escaped in one piece.
Brianna woke up on a make shift bed with Superboy at her side. She tried to sit up but Conner stopped her and she noticed her hand was bandaged up in a crude sling. The pain slowly shot through her body and she winced, "What is up with villains attacking parts of my arm these days?"
Her attempt at humor brought a small smile to the half-Kryptonian's face and he said, "Nightwing is flying us to a hospital."
The brunette nodded and said, "Carry me to the helm please. I'm sure Nightwing has words to say."
The blue eyed boy nodded and gingerly lifted her up before bringing her to the cock pit where everyone was seated. It appeared Jaime just regained consciousness too. Dick saw she was awake and gave a quick congratulatory speech, "Mission accomplished everyone, well done. Care to take the controls, Miss M?"
He looked over to M'gann who appeared to be in a daze and Garfield replied on her behalf, "I think she's still basking in the glow of victory. She totally nailed Aqualad, you should have seen it! Well actually, it didn't look like much but I'm sure it was very cool inside their heads!"
Brianna and Conner looked at Beast Boy curiously but the brunette did not notice her boyfriend glaring at his ex-girlfriend suspiciously. The pyro sighed, "I wish I was there to lay a hand on him. I suppose I'll have to treat M'gann to a meal for dealing with him."
Superboy responded with an "mmm hmm" and absentmindedly stroke her back.
Once they got to the hospital, the doctors immediately x-rayed her hand and upon finding no fractures, they administered a lot of pain killers and set her bones back in place. Conner was by her side the whole time for support and hugged her close to comfort her. "Broken but not beaten…" The girl whispered when the procedure was over and Superboy smiled but was worried for Aqualad.
The Atlantean on the other hand, was not as lucky as Brianna. Now, he was completely broken and there was not a chance for him to recover at all.
Author's Note: Season 2 episode covered in this chapter, "Before The Dawn". I apologize for the numerous line breaks as we jumped between Kaldur and Brianna. I know it's heartbreaking that Kaldur's last thought before he becomes a vegetable is that of Brianna. ='(
And yes, Brianna's powers are magical in nature since it comes from a mysterious guardian being that can't be seen. I recommend reading Scenes 12 to 14 which would be Origins Part I to III in case you forgot... Also, the Beetles are weak against magic as stated in the show. =P
To murdercrowther: That was an explosion occuring on Mount Justice. :P As for Conner and Brianna, I explained it in my author's note at the end of the chapter.
To Guest: Thanks! Yup, it's been a year since Brianna got betrayed so she'll try to move on.
To Eszra: Waiting for the kiss or the explosion? Best of luck for your fic! I hope I can read it when it's published. :)