Chapter 11
"How do you have that many powers?!" Artemis was still shocked at the many abilities that Siren had listed.
"What is the reason that you are here anyway?" the hooded girl, opting not to answer the female archer, turned to ask Red Arrow.
Roy Harper narrowed his eyes once again in suspicion at her. It was obvious that she was hiding something and he was determined to find out what it was.
"How about you tell me why you're on the Team first?" the red archer challenged, "And answer her question while you're at it."
"That is classified information," Batman interjected his interrogation, "The reason for her recruitment to the Team and how she obtained her powers are on a need-to-know basis."
"And you don't need to know," he continued in a tone of finality that left no more room for any questions about the other new member. This caused both Artemis and Red Arrow to wonder what was going on with Siren and the Justice League.
"Hey Siren, you turned invisible again," Robin called out to her who as he just stated was no longer visible.
"Ah!" she jumped in surprise when she looked down to see that it was true.
"I got to stop doing that!" she told herself as her body reappeared.
{It seems that you have gained the Gene Tonic: Natural Camouflage.} Subject Delta told the frustrated Alpha Big Sister.
{You will become invisible when you're standing still for a period of time so as to not accidently enter this state, you must keep a part of your body moving.}
{Thank you, Father.}
"- came to us for a reason," she suddenly heard Aqualad say to Red Arrow.
It looked like she wasn't paying attention to what the others were saying earlier. She really had to be more careful whenever she's having a mental conversation with her Big Daddy.
"A reason named Dr. Serling Rochette," he answered.
The eyes of the Boy Wonder widened in recognition at the name that Red Arrow said to them.
"Nano-robotics genius and claytronics expert at Royal University in Star City," he told to everyone as he opened up holographic displays that showed information pertaining to her career, "Vanished two weeks ago."
"Abducted two weeks ago," Roy correct the younger boy, "By the League of Shadows."
"Whoa, you want us to rescue her from the Shadows?" the younger boy brightened up from the chance to do a big-time mission such as dealing with the infamous League of Shadows.
"Hardcore," Kid Flash bumped his fist with Robin.
"I already rescued her," he told them bluntly.
"Only one problem," he opened up a holographic display that showed some sort of robotic insect, "The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon. Doc calls it the FOG, comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nanotech infiltrators ,capable of disintegrating anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone.
That last bit of information was certainly foreboding. Siren could see why that was a problem when this so-called League of Shadows were in control of this weapon. She did find the nanotechnology quite fascinating. Maybe, she could use it to create a cure for ADAM?
"But its true purpose isn't mere destruction," Red Arrow continued, "It's theft. The infiltrators feed and store raw data from any computer system and deliver the stolen intel to the Shadows, providing them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech…"
"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power-broking," Artemis finished for him, "Yeah, sounds like the Shadows."
"Like you know anything about the Shadows," the shirtless speedster said to the female archer. But this earned a smirk from her that said: "I know more than you do".
"Who are you?!" Kid Flash demanded once again in frustration.
"Rochette's working on a virus to render the FOG inert," the red archer continued as if the previous exchange between the two had not occurred.
"But if the Shadows know that she can do that…" Robin realized the objective of their mission.
"Then they will simply eliminate her," Siren had also figured out their objective, "And our mission is to make sure that this fate does not befall her."
"Right now, she's off the grid. I stashed her in a local high school's computer lab."
"You left her alone?!" Green Arrow exclaimed in disbelief at his former protégé's apparent carelessness.
"She's safe enough for now."
"Then let's you and I keep her that way."
"You and I? Don't you want to take your new protégé and little miss powerhouse here?" he said to him, referring to Artemis and Siren.
The green archer looked like that he wanted to say more but Batman approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder, reminding him the real purpose for this.
"You brought this to the Team. It's their mission, which means it's hers now too."
"Then my job's done," the oldest teen scoffed as he began to make his way to the Zeta beam teleporter. He gave one last glare at the two new recruits, showing his clear distrust for them especially for the hooded girl.
Recognized: Speedy B-0-6
"That's Red Arrow B-0-6, update," he told the machine that identified him in an irritated manner.
After he left, Kid Flash glanced at Artemis, expressing his dislike for her that was plain to see. She too glanced at the speedster with a mutual expression.
"You should really go change right about now," Eleanor spoke up, breaking the tension between the two.
"I'd rather that you set out as Kid Flash instead of 'Wall-Man'," the Rapturian grinned as she said this, causing the said speedster to blush before he ran off with his super-speed to change into his uniform.
00000
Happy Harbor
The Team had already arrived to the high school where Red Arrow had hidden Dr. Rochette. Miss Martian and Superboy were on the roof of the school and on the lookout for any members of the Shadows while Siren, Aqualad, Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis were in the computer lab, guarding the doc herself. The Atlantean, the Martian, and the speedster had their uniform in stealth mode.
{Miss Martian, link us up. We don't want the Shadows to intercept our comm.} Aqualad ordered the Martian as he observed the hallways to which she complied.
{Everyone online?} she asked to make sure since one of them has an immunity to telepathy.
{Ugh! This is weird.} the female archer mentally voiced out that she was uncomfortable with the exchange through the mind link.
{And distracting.} Rochette stated. {Coding and distributing an algorithm virus on a kiddy computer with less random wristwatches is hard enough but now I have to listen to teens think in my skull!}
{Lady, do you always complain when someone always tries to help you?} Kid Flash was getting annoyed with the woman. As usual, he was eating an energy bar.
{I suppose that I had to deal with worse.} Siren said to no one in particular as she rolled her eyes from under her hood, being able to use the mind link because her father had let Miss Martian established it.
{It worked!} M'gann was startled by the fact that she successfully connected her mind with the taller girl.
{And this is surprising, why?} Siren raised an eyebrow at the green skinned girl despite that the other couldn't see it.
{You know what? Why don't you tell us about why it's a shock that it worked?} the third female member asked the Martian. She didn't know that Miss Martian had failed at the first attempt to access Siren's mind in the past.
{That's not really important at the moment.} the Rapturian told the archer before turning to stare at the screen that Rochette was using.
{Mind if I take a look at the algorithms of your virus?} she asked the doctor as she leaned closer to the computer.
{What would someone like you know about computer programming?} Rochette was very skeptic of the younger girl. What does a gangly girl who looked like she was a part of a cult know about the kind of work she does for a living?
{Only things that I read in some books.} Eleanor answered. When she took a closer look at the virus, she frowned. It seems that there was a few mistakes in the program that could make it much more difficult for the virus to work properly.
Without another word-er-thought, she used her telekinesis to gently move the doctor away so that she may rectify the virus. She had a feeling that the doctor wouldn't accept help from someone younger than her from what she gathered from her complaints.
{Hey! What do think you're doing?!} Rochette protested as she saw Siren editing the virus. The girl's fingers were a blur from the speed that she was typing the keyboard.
{This isn't some kid's game where you can just button mash until you win!} the doctor mentally yelled at her as she finished her typing.
{This takes some serious deliberation and knowledge of the subject so you can't just do whatever you-} her tirade was cut short as she stared at the now finished and perfected virus that at least would have taken her hours to a day at most to even get something close to this. And it had only taken the girl less than a minute.
{It's done. She finished it.} the Nano-robotics expert could only gaped at the feat with wide-eyes as the Team with the exception of Siren were also surprised by this.
{Pardon?} Siren stared at them as if what she did was completely and without a doubt normal. But seeing how strange she was, that could be the case with her.
{Where exactly did you learn to do that?} Robin was the first to ask.
{I actually taught myself when I read a book on the subject and I practiced those self-taught skills on the advanced security systems that my mother installed to prevent me from sneaking out the apartment.}
{And how old were you that time?} Kid Flash questioned her, the energy bar left forgotten.
{I was merely six years old that time.} she responded as if it was normal that any six year old would sneak out of their home and teach themselves to hack computers so that they could leave the house. It also seemed like to her that it was normal for mothers to install advanced security systems, its sole purpose being to keep the said child inside of the house.
Robin was the most shocked. Sure he was quite a hacker and he was also pretty rebellious but not even he could claim to learn how to hack computers at the tender age of six and sneak out of the house at that same age.
{Okay, let me get this straight.} Artemis raised a hand to halt the conversation. {Not only do you have like a billion powers, you're also super smart.}
{I'm not that smart.} the child genius muttered. She felt a bit awkward from the looks that she received from the others. Miss Martian and Superboy may not be in the same room but she also suspected that they would be doing the same. {Besides, I was home-schooled by my mother. She made sure to teach me the basics that everyone learns at my age.}
{Really? What's that?} Robin raised an eyebrow at her. he was wondering what exactly were the basics to her.
{Calculus, Trigonometry, Algebra, Psychology, Sociology, Biology, Physics, Engineering, and I forgot the names of the other subjects that she taught me. I was not really paying attention for most of the time. See? The basics.}
This statement caused everyone in the room to deadpan the girl who had just listed down the majorly advanced subjects that were around high school to college level. How can she be so smart yet not notice that she was smart?
{Honestly, I think you're too modest for your own good.}
The Team had frozen at the arrival of a new voice in their established mind link. On the other hand, Eleanor was shocked to see that the others could hear her father.
She facepalmed when she realized that the others would also be able to hear the Big Daddy through the mind link and her father hadn't even realized this as well.
{Oops.} Subject Delta had only begun to register his mistake. What he did next only surprised the others including Eleanor even more.
They heard the sounds of heavy footsteps running. Then a door opening and being slammed shut. What was even more confusing was that they heard the sound of a car driving off until it eventually faded.
{What the deuce?}
00000
Gotham Harbor
A couple of fishermen had just arrived to Gotham to rest for the night. They were engaged in a conversation about an old but still significant gossip of the sea such as the strange lights that were seen beneath the surface of the sea.
Some said that the lights belonged to aliens who were planning to conquer the Earth or the Atlanteans was finally about to wage war against the surface world. None of these were any closer to the truth except the one where those strange lights were responsible for the disappearance of young girls.
As they were busy conversing about this particular topic, the water began to bubble. A metal sphere then rose from the surface, emitting similar lights to the ones that the two fishermen were talking about.
"What the hell!" one of them exclaimed in surprise.
The bathysphere suddenly opened up. The front part was lowered and became a platform. Out came a man wearing an expensive yet worn down tuxedo and a gold/bronze rabbit mask that covered the upper half of his face.
"Hello Gotham City! I have returned to grace your filth-infested streets with true beauty once again!" the masked man announced as he sported a charming smile and spread his arms apart like he was expecting applause. The two men could only stare at the bizarre scene before them in shocked silence.
"...what's that look? You don't like it, do you?" the masked man's smile faltered at their reactions.
"I don't need to be judged by you...by anyone! Screw you! Screw all you fucking doubters! Here's what I say to all of you!" his expression did a complete one-eighty.
He tore the rabbit mask from his face to reveal a face that had a waxed mustache, red lips, and unnatural pale skin.
"I'M SANDER FUCKING COHEN!" the pale man roared at them with hands ablaze.
"And you'll be my latest masterpiece!"