May 30th 2020. Atlantic Ocean. 00:54 EST
"Still no luck with the cameras?" Kid Star whispered, her and Weasel were standing at their rear of their five-man band, with X out at the point. In between the three were Knuckle Duster and Karisma, grouped with her two masked manta troopers.
It hadn't even been an hour since they'd met on the shoreline of Gotham harbor, and their deadline was a ways out, but none of the kids seemed prone to taking it easy for the evening.
"I'm completely blocked out, they must have figured out what I did in their wiring. But, the map is solid, the cockpit is definitely up that way," Weasel explained, pointing up her group towards X.
"Should be thirty seconds till the next group passes by," X whispered towards the pair in the rear. At the heads-up, Kid Star and Weasel refocused their attention on the task at hand. Having found the cockpit, they also found the biggest collection of manta troopers yet, clearly they knew what the goal was. And, for whatever reason, they didn't seem too eager to let the kids through without a fight.
Having watched their movements for a few minutes now, X was almost disappointed at the guards' simplicity. These guards were on a simple cyclical rotation around the cockpit, walking at even intervals around where they thought the controls to the Manta-Sub were located. Maybe Black Manta was just turning down the difficulty?
"I'm a little surprised," Red Hood said. His eyes, like those of his cohorts, were trained on the variety of security feeds coming from the Manta-Sub. "Was this the best challenge you could come up with, Black Manta? What's the trick here?"
"No trick," Manta admitted. "This is a lesson," he went on to explain, "most of these kids have been beating up on street thugs and petty criminals. For that reason, they probably feel nigh invincible right about now. I only told my men to give them a class on humility, with some reward money thrown in, for good measure."
"Some flashy gear puts them in the same class as metahumans?" Vixen asked, still trying to play up as much of a cold shoulder as she could towards the man in black.
Black Manta scoffed, a strange sound coming through his mechanical mask, "Their equipment is hardly anything to marvel at. No, what closes that gap is sheer experience. Nobody's born with it, and even money can't buy it."
Red Hood was stunned into contemplation for only a moment before shooting off his mouth, "Fashion sense?"
Dilias Sangriente's Harvester lagged behind his next target. The trooper just managed to scurry around a corner. His black body armor and feverish escape brought to mind the image of a rat running about, giving the demon a bit of a chuckle despite the victim getting away. He wrenched his arm back, pulling on the cord and returning his scythe back to him.
The Hellborn shouldered his weapon to look for another rat to catch. Behind him the sound of billowing flames became clear, and Dilias turned to see Atomix joining with him.
"Jesus Christ," Jason commented, addressing the fresh coat of crimson paint messily splattered across the floor and walls. Shredded among it were body parts, extremities and limbs strewn about like a violent piece of abstract vomit.
"You don't have to deal with the smell," Ajax responded, tearing his eyes away to take a long look at the artist in question.
Dilias laughed a bit, "Don't worry, they were all troopers, at least, I'm pretty sure. You're free to check if a hero or two got mixed up into the action."
Atomix was already past the point of niceties, but that comment alone, solidified his judgment. Jason couldn't read the boy's mind, but swimming around in his mind, he knew what emotions were pulsing through his bloodstream.
"He's a part of your team. You all have your place," Jason did his best to calm him, "prove you're better than him."
"I assumed you would be some sort of lovable villain. A person who does the wrong thing for the right reason," Atomix explained, addressing both the still demon before him and the voice in his head. "But, I couldn't have been more wrong. You're not a person at all."
"Now, you're catching on!" Dilias laughed, bending his knees, and readying his weapon for a fight.
"You're beyond redemption, and I won't work with you," Atomix reasoned. There was a steaming anger in his voice, but it never fell into full blown emotion. There was logic and thought to his words, even as his blood boiled. "If you fail the mission, then you'll be off this team. I'll throw you off this ship, and once I've finished this mission, I'll personally hunt you down and turn you in to the authorities."
"You monster! You wouldn't dare get me… arrested! Would you?!" Dilias was laughing at his own jokes now, but keeping his fighting stance steady. "Why don't you try and kill me? Isn't that the proper punishment?"
"I'm not a murderer. And, I'm done talking," Atomix reared back his hands, throwing them forward to spout a twin set of flaming columns, filling the hallway with a cerulean blaze. After the fire had dissipated, Atomix could see a whirling sphere of dark, maroon flames, themselves disappearing after Dilias had realized the attack had relented.
Dilias' hand fell to his sides, a satisfied look on his face, "Sorry, hero, I've been feeding all night, my magic is in tip-top shape!"
Atomix abandoned the ranged attack, flying forward with his right arm cocked back. The moment his flames had sputtered to life, Dilias swung his scythe like a shovel, scooping the gory remains around his feet and flinging them towards the sky blue meteor looking to land a right hook.
It was enough to stop Ajax in his tracks, recoiling at the underhanded scattering of blood and muscles. The hand he raised to keep the it away from his face blocked his field of vision as well, it didn't go unnoticed by Dilias, who began his own charge forward, Harvester flailing behind him.
In a matter of moments, Dilias had closed the gap and pivoted his entire body, a full force swing of the scythe that began before Atomix had even recovered from the idea that dead men had just been tossed at him. By pure reflexes he managed to bend out of the way of most of the scythe. Its longest blade managed to open a gash along the boy's costume and chest, exposing a neat, horizontal wound that earned Dilias a delicious scream of pain.
Looking to turn the fight away from a melee duel, Atomix backed away, tossing a shotgun blast of fiery energy to ensure his measured retreat. The time he bought should have been spent repairing the wound with his powers and some practiced transmutation. Instead, the effort proved to be fruitless, no amount of matter put into the wound would survive for long, disintegrating away into dull, black sand.
"Jason?"
"I don't know!"
"Jason?!"
"Dilias!" the demon exclaimed his own name, fiercely rotating for another shot at the hero, who slid under the cleave.
'At long range, Dilias was able to defend himself from my attacks,' Ajax began to silently break down what he knew piece by piece, trying to pick out the weakness among his opponent's strengths. His train of thought was put on pause by another strike of the Harvester, avoided by a roll across the hard metal ground.
As much as he seemed to enjoy the fight, Dilias was able to control himself, holding back in his swing just enough to prevent his movements being slowed by a weapon stuck in the metal floor.
'I can't risk a short range confrontation, that weapon can break through my defense. Even worse I can't heal myself-' this time a pulse of energy jetted Atomix away from a trained combination of slices, completely ejecting himself from the attack's range.
'How does science beat magic?' he continued to think to himself, now floating mid-air a couple meters from the approaching demon. Behind Atomix was a right turn down another hallway, but the last thing he wanted to do was waste more time escaping from this psychopath.
Dilias was grinning, but halted his approach towards Atomix. "You know why you're losing this fight, right?" he asked, keeping the motions of his left fingers as discrete as possible.
"Get him monologuing," Jason advised, "he's strong, but he's deranged and arrogant, push whatever weakness you can-"
"I know!" Ajax replied loudly. His mind was running a hundred miles a minute, and sometimes it simply felt like Jason was occupying a little too much of his head.
"You do?" Dilias answered, "Well, I had a whole little speech prepared…"
"It's because I'm holding back," Atomix said, hoping to sound as intimidating as possible. 'Where's his weakness? Could I try depleting him of his magic? No, I shouldn't rely on factors I don't know anything about, that's irresponsible.'
"Exactly! You're a hero. So, when you look around this hallway, you're seeing hallowed grounds, you wanna be careful around these corpses, even though they're criminals. You could probably blow this whole ship to kingdom come, but you won't because there are a few actual heroes aboard, even though it's full of career criminals, even though it belongs to a fully-fledged supervillain."
'Should I try manipulating his weapon? Destroying it, or transmuting it?' Atomix's thoughts barreled on through Dilias' speech. 'No, the wound he caused, it wasn't normal, it's another piece of magic I need to stay away from. I need to focus on what I do know! What has he done that I know?'
"It's the same story with all boy scouts," continued Dilias. "You think these strict morals give you this righteous power, but, that's simply not true."
'His fire!' Ajax leaped to the conclusion and was immediately ready to set his plan into action, "Are you done, yet, Dilias?" The question was rhetorical, only meant to give Atomix a moment to gather up a great deal of azure flames around his body, and then focusing as much fire as he could on a single finger.
"Not yet, actually," Dilias answered honestly. Though he couldn't care less about his speech, it was true his little trump card needed some more time.
But, Atomix was ready, and he began his flight forward, unleashing a thin stream of intense flames from his index finger, targeting the Harvester's handle as precisely as nuclear stream of energy could be wielded.
Surprised to see he wasn't the target, Dilias wasn't prepared to dodge with his weapon, which from an instant shifted from room temperature to scalding hot, and the weapon was dropped onto the floor, proving step one of Ajax's plan as a success.
Step two began with a wider stream of flames, a conical burst of brilliant sapphire blazes that might've incinerated the villain, had he not summoned his own hellfire to form a barrier around him. It was exactly as Atomix had predicted.
Making contact with the flame, Ajax performed the first trick he had ever learned, before he'd even become Atomix, absorbing the energy into his own body. Normally, flames felt plain, like a part of himself that would neatly assimilate into his own nuclear energy, making the boy ever stronger. But, this dark, sickly flame was entirely different. It wasn't adding to his flames, but seemed to push them out, replacing them and deleting what was there before.
While it stole from his power, it hardly impeded from the boy's forceful advance. Atomix still persevered through the hellish barrier, his normal cloak of blue flames being doused and replaced with a more diabolical substitute.
Dilias' hellfire had disappeared, completely absorbed by Atomix, leaving the young demon was left vulnerable without his magical protection. But, the timing was a stroke of good fortune, for as the fire was replaced by Atomix himself, his left hand stopped working, the magic finally finished.
In place of reacting to the hero's fist, Dilias merely raised his own hand, holding a violet magic circle that pulsed and sparked with the energy he'd packed into it. Once loosely aimed, he activated the spell, unloading the sinister wave of magic upon his opponent. Pure corruption sorcery flowed towards and through Atomix, enough power that could wipe out a squadron of soldiers, turning them to the black sand that plagued the gash in his chest.
Against Atomix, Dilias had figured the spell would be enough to incapacitate his foe and get rid of the pest. But, it had the opposite effect. Now, this magic was easily assimilated into Ajax, who continued to barrel forward while throwing his right fist to connect with the creature's jaw. The last thing Dilias saw was a specter of destruction, cloaked in black flames, and fuming with an entirely unnatural energy, an Atomix that had completely changed, and then his body slammed against the cold metal.
Ajax had defeated his enemy. He'd obliterated his obstacle. He didn't feel like himself. He didn't recognize the body he saw when he looked at himself. A quiet yelling came from the back of his head. Why were his flames black? That injury in his chest was gone.
"I should kill Dilias…" The voice was loud and pronounced, it was not his own. It wasn't Jason's either. "He deserves it," the voice continued. Something booming, his head was just a hollow cave filled by the echo of these thoughts. Were they his own? "HE DESERVES IT, ATOMIX!"
His arm agreed, raised and blazing black, poised to wash the demon in those cruel, devilish flames.
That quiet voice became loud as it broke through the cave, "You're Alexander Jackson Atlas!" Jason shouted, not a command, not an edict, but merely a reminder. And the boy agreed.
Atomix disappeared, black flames receding, mental state changing, his black irises filling the white voids that had been there before. And, the boy fell to the floor, joining the demon in unconsciousness.
X's arm swept down, The signal for each of the heroes to make their move, keeping their steps as silent as possible as they followed his lead down the corridor, looking to break through this round of guards and move another hallway closer towards their goal.
Had they not been so focused on that progress, they might've noticed a quiet, chirp from one trooper's belt, his own signal being broadcast to every other trooper in the vicinity.
"How many times do you think I've lost? Ms. McCabe? Mr. Hood?" Black Manta asked, growing increasingly interested in the events playing out on screen. "How many times has a vigilante, dressed like yourselves, or like our young friends, gotten in the way of my quest? How many times have they knocked down one of my soldiers? How many plans have been uprooted by some know-nothing boy scout?"
Again, X waited out for a quartet of troopers to move by them. These troopers too seemed to fail to notice the party's progress behind their backs. But, again, a chirp went off, another signal broadcast to every trooper in the area as the heroes imagined themselves pulling another fast one over on the mooks.
"Dozens? No, hundreds, at the very least. I've been losing ever since I took on my own moniker. Every defeat has forced adaptation and evolution. Every blunder pushed me closer to perfection, and every misstep led to a rerouting of my path," there was clear passion in Manta's voice. He was happy? No, he was excited to make this point, whether he was happy to make it to the two vigilantes next to him or the one's invading his ship, it couldn't be said.
For the third time, four troopers had passed by, and X saw what he thought was the opening in the pattern, throwing down his hand again to silently lead the way through another corridor.
But, as soon as they crossed the hallway, he'd recognized the catastrophe he'd just walked into.
"If nothing else, manta troopers know how to lose."
What he thought would be a squadron obliviously walking away was actually eight manta troopers in a uniform positioned to the group's right side, immediately opening fire on sight.
The group was divided at the sound of gunfire, Karisma, X and Weasel had managed to cross the hallway, hiding around the corner from the gunmen, but on the other side were Kid Star and Knuckle, who had both pulled themselves back instead. Their reactions were so close one of Karisma's puppet troopers had even been caught in the fray, blown away by the bullets with no mercy from his former comrades.
"We'll find another way through! Go on ahead!" Kid Star shouted over the endless rounds fired, waiting for an affirmative from the group on the other side. When they nodded their response, Kid Star fled through the way they came, Knuckle close behind her.
Reaching the corridor they'd crossed before, the hallway was entirely different now. Along the path was a half dozen oblong explosives, detonated by the itchy trigger finger of a trooper off to the side.
The explosions pushed back the duo, trapping them between the bomb-ridden the hallway and the one filled with flying lead.
Hoping those detonations had removed any danger, the two cautiously pressed backwards again looking to escape the gunfire that seemed to be drawing closer. The eight troopers that had laid the initial trap were slowly marching forward, looking to delete the distance between them and their targets.
"Call it off!" Vixen shouted. The devastation had come far too close, and she was far beyond regretting her request to test these kids.
Black Manta didn't comply. He simply watched on as the gunmen drew closer to their targets.
Weasel braved to make a move around the corner, lashing her arm around the harsh turn, hoping to blindly disarm a soldier with her whip form of Junior, but, before the robot could reach any of her targets, a bullet found its home in the girl's bicep. She crumpled to the floor, Junior responded automatically to the impact, returning to defend the girl's exposed arm before Karisma used her soldier puppet to pull the girl out of the way of the fire.
"We need to advance!" X commanded, not waiting for a response as he crept closer to the cockpit, but before he could make it into the next corridor, a short sword slashed around the corner, harshly halting his progress. The trooper swordsmen was joined by two others, who formed a wall of soldiers ready for action and keeping close watch on the three heroes.
Karisma moved to place her puppet in the point position, raising his rifle to unload on the trio. But, it was as if they had read the move out of playbook, and two swordsmen attacked in perfect unison, one slashing the weapon to render it obsolete, and the other gutting the man. The sudden attack removed the mask from the man, but X didn't let the chance go to waste, advancing on the two with knives in hand.
X got the jump on one trooper, who he managed to kick off to the side, and his knives blocked the thrust from the other manta trooper, parrying the blade off to the side. Karisma took advantage of the third trooper in the rear, focusing her powers on him to apply a mask. When the first trooper had recovered from X's kick, he looked to interrupt his duel with the other, but found himself wrapped up by the third manta swordsman, his motions being puppeted by Karisma, who was grabbing at nothing as tight as she possibly could.
Ellis had fought dozens, if not hundred of guys with blades, pocket knives, flashy butterfly blades, steak knives, broken bottles and everything in between, and his knifework had kept him a league ahead, but just one of these troopers was proving a problem. There was a tangible gap in discipline and training, the only thing X had going for him was an advantage in size and drive, his relentless attacks with long reach shoring up his blatant inexperience.
All the while, the gunfire didn't relent, with each moment bringing the eight weapons closer and closer.
Vixen pushed Red Hood out of the way when he tried to intervene. "You've proven your point, you vindictive son of a bitch! We get it, villains are cool. You're competent, you have value. Killing these kids is not the point of this exercise!"
"It was your idea," Manta casually replied.
"Is that what this is about? Are you upset that I doubted your team? Still whining about me joining your crusade?"
"They won't have much chance at fighting the Justice League if they can't beat a few, how'd you put it? Heartless thugs? Brutes? I've heard so many insults flung their way. I get them mixed up."
"And I'll send them all a Hallmark card after this is over! Don't kill these kids!"
"Knuckle Duster, can you stop that gunfire or the bombs?"
"What?!"
Kid Star didn't have time for her questions to be questioned, "We're stuck between a rock and hard place! Which one can you handle?"
"Stupid question!" Knuckle criticized, "They need our help there," he pointed to the trio in front, Weasel, reeling from her gunshot, Karisma struggling to tie up a trooper with her powers and X furiously slashing at his foe. "So we go forward!"
Red Hood pulled back the hammer on his pistol, nestling the barrel between the pieces of armor covering Manta's head and neck. "I'm siding with Vixen here, Manta. Call it off. This was a mistake."
Manta turned about face, looking at his threat directly. He waited a moment, ready to see what would be coming next.
"I'm not playing around anymore, Manta!"
"Just remember," he replied, pressing a series of buttons on his forearm's communication device, "that when we disagreed, it was the heroes that drew first. Not me."
Across the video screens, the troopers were relenting in their assault, halting their fire, disarming their weapons and backing off from their intruders. The troopers in the cockpit called for the Manta-Flyer to return to the Sub on their own.
The children had failed their first test.
"It certainly goes quite far to show who trusts who in this relationship," Manta said plainly, returning his gaze to the screens while the Flyer set a course for the Sub.
The time between the mission being called off and the two ships reconnecting was equal parts embarrassing and awkward. At first, the kids believed the armistice was another ploy, some move by the troopers to lure them into a false sense of security. But, when they began treating Weasel medically, and showing them communication with Red Hood, who explained the situation, they were able to relax.
In the medical ward, they were joined by Atomix and Dilias, brought in by a pair of manta troopers. Everyone else was being thoroughly examined and checked up on by the very people who were trying to kill them just a little while before then.
Once the two ships had joined up with one another, the team was summoned to the Flyer. Karisma stayed behind to watch over Weasel, who was sleeping off the round being taken out of her shoulder, and Atomix lagged a bit behind, looking for a private place to talk to himself.
In an empty sleeping quarters, the boy was back to being the nuclear superhero, transforming himself the moment he woke up from that strange sleep. Much to his relief, his flames were back to their normal hue and the only voice he heard was Jason's and his own.
"Do you have any idea what happened back there?" Ajax asked him directly.
"Up until now, I've been keeping something from you," Jason admitted. "Being part of the Firestorm Matrix means you can see the memories of its past members, but, I've been hiding some from you."
"What does that have to do with that black fire?"
"I'm not sure how," Jason admitted. "But, something about Dilias' magic brought out an entity called Deathstorm, another part of the Matrix."
"And you've been keeping it from me?"
"Only temporarily. There aren't many absolutes in this world. Being a part of Firestorm is proof enough that just about anything can change. But, Deathstorm is absolute evil. It's malice and destruction, and it should be sealed away."
"Any other secrets you wanna let me in on?" Ajax asked, freely agitated now. "I'm supposed to be a superhero, you're telling me I can become that thing again? That it's a part of me?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Jason said honestly. Not that there was much use in lying to Ajax while he resided in the teenager's head. "I'll tell you what I can find out, but, for now, I'd just keep your distance from that demon."
"Don't need you to tell me that," Ajax said dismissively, leaving the quarters to get told how badly they failed their mission.
On the Manta Flyer, there was a long rectangular room, sporting two portholes on one wall to the murky ocean water outside and lined with gentle overhead lights. In its center was a long metal table surrounded by simple chairs. At the end of it was a large screen, standing in front of it was Vixen, sitting on either side of her at the table were Black Manta and Red Hood, both silently contemplating their own take on the evening.
When Atomix walked into the room, already there was Dilias, rocking his chair back and forth happily, who shot a lazy smile towards him, Ajax did his best to avoid the demon's gaze. On the other side of him were X and Kid Star, both silently sitting next to one another. Knuckle Duster couldn't bring himself to sit, leaning against the wall with a frustrated snarl plastered on his face. Atomix sat on the other side of Kid Star without a word.
Only a moment passed before Weasel and Karisma joined up, the latter supporting Weasel who was slung over her shoulder. Yasmine gently helped the other girl into a seat close to the entrance, Junior hopping playfully onto the table. The robot might have been the only thing in the room that couldn't feel the thick sense of tension in the air.
"Glad to see you all here," Vixen said honestly. Though it may have been insulting to some of the heroes, she was genuinely relieved to see the kids safe and sound. "It should already be clear, but you all failed your mission, which is why it was aborted."
No one was especially surprised by the news, but it still hit like a truck. Knuckle Duster struggled to keep himself in one piece. X could only think about his family back home, and how upset they'd be. Even Kid Star, apprehensive at the concept of teaming up was distraught at the truth of how poorly she'd performed under pressure.
"I'm not sure it counts as a failure, if they weren't allowed to finish the test," Black Manta said coldly. His comment was not one of compassion or sympathy, merely an objective observation of his, one taken into consideration by Red Hood.
"Drop it, Manta," Vixen quickly pressed, looking to shut down any discussion on the subject. "Their involvement in this operation is over."
Again, her words were crushing. Weasel was so disappointed in the outcome, even Junior took note, looking to comfort the girl as best a robot weasel can.
"What the hell, Manta?" Dilias shouted, slamming the four legs of his chair back to the floor, "What happened to what I was promised?"
"At the very least," Red Hood said calmly, "I think we can offer them answers for their effort, no?"
Vixen pondered the idea. Why was he suddenly so willing to divulge secrets to people who wouldn't even be a part of the Operation? Even the discrete Manta nodded at the suggestion, prompting the woman to sigh deeply before going forward.
"What we're about to tell you," Vixen began, "is never to be spoken about, to anyone. You all guard these secrets with your lives, if you really want these answers."
No one was about to move, instead, they momentarily forgot their failings, and were paying rapt attention to this presentation.
"About one month ago, Black Manta offered paid a visit to an individual close to him. A certain superhero who has close ties to the Justice League."
"You know him as Aqualad," Black Manta revealed on his own. "No need to treat them with kiddie gloves, Ms. McCabe."
Vixen nodded, but was even more baffled. That family tie was a closely guarded secret, and he just let it go like it was nothing. What was his play? "Yes, Aqualad. Manta presented his son," Mari looked to see a reaction from Manta, but got nothing. He was happy to let these kids know their exact relation too?
"With a certain gift, a prototypical piece of technology meant to defend against psychic attacks. The device was a result of studies done from a past telepathic attack they were both subject to," again no reaction from Manta, nothing even like flinch at noting his past failing. "When Manta applied the technology to his son, it actively disrupted a psychic hold on him."
This was the first piece of news that lent surprise more to the team than to Vixen herself. "For a few moments, Aqualad let Manta in on a few vital pieces of information before stopping himself. Despite that device continuing to function, he fell under a different sort of control, shut himself up and left."
She paused to let the scenario sink in, but it only made Kid Star anxious to hear more. "You're not going to make us ask, are you? What did he say?"
"The first was that he didn't have much time," Manta now picked up the story, quoting his son from his seat. "The second, was that he'd had been under someone's control for the past two months. And, the third, was that every member of the Justice League and of his covert team were also under somebody's thrall," Manta ended the story there.
'So there is something he wanted to leave out,' Mari noticed, 'the fourth piece of information.'
Red Hood seized his turn at storytelling. "A week after that, I had run across Nightwing, someone I've known for a long while," he detailed, choosing to stand for his part of the narrative. "Without divulging too much of my history, it was unlikely that he would ever see me again, after the last he'd heard of my situation. When he did, it was like he seized up, he short-circuited and couldn't react on his own. It was something beyond nervousness or shock. Manta coincidentally sought me out as a way to test the information he'd found.
"The short of it is, we've done a lot of tests over the past few weeks, and every member of the Justice League and their covert ops team we met has been compromised in some way, by multiple means of control. Having erased all doubts, Manta and I created a plan for ourselves to solve the problem. Operation Saratoga."
He paused then, realizing that, while he'd been fully aware of this information for a while now, these kids had heard the details for a first time, and were most likely in shock, at the very least.
There wasn't much of a response, so Vixen took the reigns again. "We have hard evidence for anyone that wants to see it, audio recordings of conversations, video footage-"
"That is one God awful name," X interrupted. "Saratoga? Who came up with that?"
Kid Star replaced his questions with her own, "If somebody is controlling that many superheroes, then what are they doing with them? If it's a villain, how is the whole world not completely under their control?"
"At this point," Manta interjected, "We only have a hypothesis about the people pulling the strings. It's unconfirmed. And, I came up with the name."
"How do you believe somebody have managed that?" Weasel asked, feeling the pain in her arm when she politely tried to raise it before asking the question.
"It's unknown," Vixen answered. "And, it doesn't really matter. Honestly, we've already given out too much information to people who aren't going to be involved with the Operation," she observed, eyeing Manta and Red Hood one after the other.
"Might as well let us in on it," Knuckle loudly remarked, "We'll definitely pass next time."
"Excuse me?" Vixen asked.
But, Knuckle's attention was already turned from the trinity at the front to the six others at the table. "When are you guys free next, huh? Two or three days to rest up and you'll all be ready, right?"
"You are not-" The superheroine was interrupted this time, the seven at the other end were collectively paying no mind.
"My press tour in Gotham ends in three. Let's just get it over with the day after tomorrow," Karisma said lazily.
Dilias laughed at nothing in particular, "Hey, I promise to play nice the second time around too. If joining up with all y'all means I get my loot at the end."
"I'll be keeping you at arm's length all the same," Atomix quickly remarked, "but I can fly over whenever. I'll have an actual plan by two days."
"Ditto," Kid Star answered. "I won't be able to get my work done if Gotham is run by corrupt police and corrupt vigilantes, only one or the other."
X groaned, "I gotta take the train here again? Any chance I can shack up with one of you until round two?"
"There isn't going to be a round two!" Vixen shouted, seizing control of the room once more, and putting to bed any idea of repeating the night's fiasco.
"I agree," Red Hood said, pulling Vixen back while the other seven continued to talk scheduling.
"How do we talk them out of this?" Vixen quietly questioned.
"No need to," Hood replied, "they're rough around the edges. But, they accomplished a lot on their first night. Imagine what they could do with training. Imagine what they could do with Manta's resources at their back, instead of in their face?"
"Precisely my thoughts, Mr. Hood," Black Manta had silently joined the duo, feeling left out at what was now the kid's table. "There was more talent than even I expected. Certainly their perseverance to try their hand at my defenses again is frightening. I'm not sure my ship would survive continued invasion."
"Absolutely not!" Vixen protested, trying to keep her shouting as quiet as possible. "Tonight only proved the danger in inviting them."
"On the contrary," Manta replied, "it only showed the benefits."
"Don't wanna lose your supervillains in training?"
"The Operation needs them, Mari," Red Hood intervened. "Without them, we're stuck spinning our wheels at Stage One. Once we can move to the next step, we can finally start solving this mess."
"We can't risk their lives."
"I believe they already have," Manta said. "And are perfectly willing to do so again, just for the chance to put themselves into even more danger."
Vixen contemplated her position. She didn't want to concede the point to the two of them, but they were right about some things. And, she was already outvoted, their discussion was really only a nicetie. What choice did she have?
"Fine," she relented. "But, we don't begin Stage Two until we are positive they're ready. All three of us."
"Of course," Red Hood accepted, echoed by a nod from Manta.
Their huddle broke and the trio turned to face the seven young kids, stuck in heated debate about moving the time schedule up another day to the next night. Comments about train rides, bullet wounds, and strategies were flung about till Red Hood whistled sharply to catch their attention.
"I'm not one for big speeches," Red Hood said. "So, welcome to Operation Saratoga."
May 30th 2020. Blüdhaven. 02:07 EST
The evening had adjourned with a mild celebration, and the ten had scheduled to meet for training and a further debriefing in one week. But, any potential for discussion and pleasantries were cut short by everyone being absolutely exhausted. Even now, Nicole Wesley struggled to keep her eyes open wide while riding her motorcycle into Blüdhaven. It didn't matter too much as the bike could easily drive itself to her home base in the city, but her evening couldn't end until her last rendezvous.
Driving up the ramp of the empty parking garage, she arrived at the third floor, where the overhead fluorescent lights were all out, making Nicole's bike's headlight the only illumination in the concrete lot.
As she rolled to a stop towards the center of the pitch black area, the lights suddenly sparked to life. Literally, each row came alight with volt of electricity discharged into them, revealing the trio of heroes walking towards Nicole.
Aqualad, Static and Nightwing were silent in their approach, meeting up with the girl, and it was Static who first noticed the bandaging on her arm.
"You okay?" he asked, coming close for an inspection.
"I'm fine, I think it helped sell things," Weasel admitted, nonchalantly rubbing the wound.
"I'm sorry you had to get hurt. I'm not surprised my father would stoop so low as to get child recruits shot at."
"Were you suspected?" Nightwing asked, following the apology.
Weasel shook her head. "Not that I know of. But, I got what you asked for!" Junior hopped over to Nightwing, ejecting a thumbdrive from his robotic body into the young hero's hand. "Those are ship schematics, security codes, details on Manta's armory, and short files I could piece together on everyone there."
"You're brother would be proud," Nightwing said honestly.
"I'm surprised to hear that Fang would be proud of me doing the right thing," Nicole replied, trying to hide her giddy embarrassment at the compliment.
The young man approached a placed a confident palm on her shoulder, "He's doing great work with our team. Just like you are. When he gets back from assignment, I'm sure you'll have some killer stories to tell him."
"We'll brief the League on everything in your files," Aqualad interrupted. "But, can you tell us if it's true? Is this coalition planning to attack the Justice League?"
Nicole grimaced at the very idea. Thinking back to being in the room with the villains targeting the best the world had to offer. "Yes, they are. They've got the other kids duped into believing them as well, they think you're all under some boogeyman's control."
Static scoffed, "Well, that's news to me. Pretty bold thinking they can take on the tip top of the totem pole."
"I'm not sure what they're plan is," Weasel said, "we're supposed to find out more in a week. Do you still want me going back?"
Nightwing sighed, as if delivering the order with a heavy heart. "It's dangerous, I know, but, yes. We need to know exactly what they're planning, and you're our only reliable source of information. I'm sorry we have to put such a heavy burden on your shoulders after you just joined the Team."
"No need for apologies," Weasel said. "I'm happy to help. They need to pay for what they're doing."
"Don't worry," Aqualad assured her, "they will."
A/N: Thanks for reading! What did you think of the end of the Arc? I was excited to get this one out, so please, let me know what you thought of it. Got a favorite character, or fight yet? The second Arc should begin shortly! We'll be shining a light on some characters that didn't get as much love these past two chapters, so please, look forward to then.
Review Responses!
CrimeSheTyped: B-652 was great fun, glad the experiment was appreciated. Hopefully this too answered and asked more questions, that's usually the goal.
JimmyHall24: Hopefully this had enough Black Manta and Vixen action to keep you satisfied, we'll see 'em in combat soon enough too.
davidthemightypaladin: Sorry I couldn't accept more into the story, guy. I do appreciate the kind words.
WhenUniversesCollide: I'm relieved to hear my interpretation was on the mark. Feel free to let me know if you feel differently. Thanks a lot for the support!
maxcron: I'm happy you still read despite Daniel's exclusion. Knowing I left lasting impressions for them all actually means a lot, characterization is something I've really tried to hone in on doing right.
Riiiiin-Chan218: Here's hoping this lived up to the hype. Here is also the answer to your Dilias and Atomix question. But the Demon and Anthony were a lot of fun to write together as well, that certainly won't be the last time.
Thanks for reading and reviewing! Or just reading! Or just reviewing... somehow? See ya next time!