Alpha Male
Disclaimer- only have rights to Dawn and plot changes
Italics- telepathic communication
Dawn's POV
It was the day after the Reds attack and instead of going home everyone spent the night at the cave. Unfortunately none of us were actually able to get any sleep so we all just stayed up and talked amongst ourselves in my room since it was the closest to the hangar.
At some point during the night Batman contacted Alfred and told him that we wouldn't be returning to Gotham tonight and to tell Aunt Sue that I was spending the night with the team.
Zaphira overheard Batman telling Alfred about the attack and immediately wanted to come to the cave to make sure I was alright.
She contacted me through our link and I asked Alfred to activate the zeta tubes for her since the caves zeta tubes had just been reactivated.
She raced into the room and immediately started blurting out questions like what happened, are you alright, and who did this as she paced around me in a circle checking for injuries.
Once she'd calmed down I told her about the attack and she growled shouting threats in my head about how she was going to personally tear the Reds to shreds limb from robotic limb.
About an hour after Zaphira arrived the team reluctantly moved into the open space by the zeta tubes since we were forced out of my room so the League could work on repairs.
I was now sitting on the floor leaning against Zaphira's side twirling her fur in-between my fingers as a way to distract myself. She was lying on the floor with her head resting beside my thigh while her body and tail wrapped around until it almost touched her head making herself a living barrier around me.
She's refused to leave my side ever since she got here and I was silently grateful for the company. Her presence was soothing and with her around I could actually relax.
Conner was sitting on the other side of Zaphira's head scratching behind her ear as he stared into space not really focusing on one thing.
The rest of the team was sitting at the small table in front of us. Megan, Artemis, and Robin were sitting with their heads bent staring at the wood while Wally leaned his chin on his folded arms that were resting on the table.
Ollie walked over and placed a bowl of cereal in front of Wally.
"Thanks, but no thanks" Wally said lifting his head from the table.
If it were any other day I would've cracked a joke about how it must be the end of the world because Wally willingly refused good food, but no one was in the mood for jokes today.
"Yeah" Robin said getting everyone's attention "what we want are answers about Red Tornado and his siblings" he finished glaring at GA.
"Exactly!" Wally agreed pointing at Robin for emphasis.
Ollie reached down to grab the bowl and take it back to the kitchen, but Wally pulled it towards his chest before he could take it.
"Leave the bowl," KF muttered swallowing a spoonful of cereal. I laughed drily and cracked a small smile.
"Well I guess the world isn't ending just yet," I thought.
In my peripheral vision I noticed Aqualad talking to Batman in a hushed voice so no one would hear them. They both had on serious expressions so I knew their conversation was important. What I didn't know was that Conner had noticed the two as well and was curious about what they were talking about. He activated his super hearing so he could ease drop on their conversation. Before anyone could blink Conner was on his feet and charging towards Aqualad.
"You knew?!" he yelled grabbing Aqualad by the shirt and forcibly pushing him back "that android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"
I stood and ran over to break up the fight before anyone did anything drastic. Megan must've had the same idea as me because she quickly stood from the table and flew in their direction as well.
"Conner what are you doing?" she asked landing beside him.
I ran up to the two boys and used my powers to pull them apart trying to defuse the situation. I set them down once they were far enough apart, but Conner wasn't about to be pulled back so easily.
He ran towards Aqualad again so I brought up my hands and placed them on his chest as he ran forward. I pushed against him trying to hold him back as best I could.
It took all my strength to keep him from plowing through me and attacking Aqualad like he really wanted to. The only reason I was actually able to hold him back was because he was holding back.
He didn't fight against me as hard as he could have because he didn't want to hurt me. He knew if he went full force I'd get hurt in the process and I wasn't his target; Aqualad was.
My ribs were still sore from last night, but thankfully I've been working on my water power's and learned that I could heal small injuries using water. The various cuts and bruises along my face and body instantly healed when I applied water to them.
I wasn't able to completely heal my ribs, but I was able to speed up the healing process so I only felt a small ache when I moved them. I could move around and fight if I had too, but they were still sore and trying to keep a 16-year-old super teen from attacking someone with only your bare hands was way harder than it sounds.
"Whoa Conner slow down what's gotten into you. Stop before you do something you'll regret," I said pushing against him a little harder until he took a step back. He stopped struggling so he wouldn't hurt me, but gave Aqualad the worst death glare I've ever seen him give.
"Don't tell me to calm down Shade, Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" Conner yelled.
I felt my eyes widen in surprise as I turned my head to see Aqualad's expression and give him the opportunity to deny the accusation, but he didn't say anything.
"You knew?" Robin said as the rest of the team walked over.
"But you didn't tell us?" Wally said incredulously while folding his arms.
Conner stopped fighting to get to Aqualad so I let my hands fall to my sides and turned to give Aqualad the opportunity to explain. I wasn't going to rush to conclusions and start throwing around accusations until I knew all the facts.
"I sought to protect the team from-"
"Protect us from what? Knowledge that might have saved our lives" Artemis said rudely interrupting Aqualad's explanation before he could finish.
I stepped away from Conner and walked over to stand by Aqualad giving Artemis my version of the batglare, which I've been told is scarily similar to the original.
"Well maybe you'd have your answer if you'd let him finish instead of rudely butting in and coming to your own conclusions when you don't have all the facts" I snapped at her.
She turned and we had an intense glaring match, neither of us wanted to be the first to turn away.
"What is there to explain?" Artemis growled "He withheld vital information that could've cost us our lives if yesterday had gone differently. Three members of our team almost died Shade, including you, and you're defending him?"
I desperately wanted to say "you're one to talk with the secrets you've kept from the team" but no matter how angry I was I'd never do that to a friend. I wasn't about to throw her under the bus just because we got into a fight. That would just be shallow on my part. She'd tell the team her demons when she was ready, and not a second before.
"You almost died!" Conner yelled at Megan as he stepped forward and grabbed Aqualad by the collar before I could stop him. I moved to pull them apart once again but fortunately my interference wasn't needed.
"Enough!" Batman said lowly while still making his voice sound full of authority and command.
Everyone went silent and turned to the caped crusader. Batman narrowed his eyes at Conner and he reluctantly released Aqualad but not before giving him a good shove.
"With Red Tornado missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift," Batman said as Captain Marvel walked up.
"I'm looking forward to hanging with you guys" Marvel said cheerfully.
I raised an eyebrow at his almost childlike glee, but kept my mouth shut.
Conner turned to Aqualad and got in his face failing to notice Batman walking towards them.
"After I dismantle Red Tornado you and I are gonna-"
"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice league. That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us" Batman said giving us the famous batglare as he interrupted Conner's threat. His tone and posture left absolutely no room for argument even though the team had many.
"I have another assignment for this team," Batman said as a group of holographic screens popped up, their screens filled with recent news articles.
"Gotham mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla?" Wally said reading the title on the screen unamused.
"Batman please tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase" Robin scoffed.
I had to agree with Robin on this one. Was this the only thing Bruce could find to distract us on such short notice. If so then he really needs work on his distracting skills.
Batman narrowed his eyes at Robin "I never joke about the mission" he said darkly.
Robin closed his mouth and looked away from Bruce's intense glare knowing he'd just been reprimanded.
"I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a serous of incidents," Batman said getting back on topic. "Aqualad you and your team will depart for India and check this out."
Aqualad nodded accepting the mission without complaint.
No one spoke to Aqualad as they passed him on their way to the bioship. The only person who spoke to him was Wally and he only stopped to rub salt in the wounds.
"Humph your team" he said sarcastically before walking away.
I walked up last and placed a hand on his shoulder giving him a squeeze of sympathy and encouragement as I flew after the team leaving him to collect his thoughts before the mission. I quickly caught up to Wally and Robin as they walked down the hallway.
"You know you didn't have to be so hard on him. It's hard enough being team leader without everyone turning against you for one small screw up" I said floating beside them as they walked.
"It's not just one small screw up Shade, he kept things from us that we needed to know. He didn't trust us. If he didn't withhold information we might've been more prepared for the Reds attack" Wally complained.
I rolled my eyes "Oh stop complaining KF. You're acting like knowing about the possible mole would've changed anything. Well let me tell you right now it wouldn't have changed a thing, in fact it probably would've only made things worse.
Everyone would've turned on each other trying to figure out who the traitor was and that's if there even is one. So even if we knew about this so called mole the Reds still would've snuck up on us and we still would've been captured. Knowing about the spy wouldn't have changed anything that happened yesterday and you know it. You all just want someone to blame for everything and since Red Tornado isn't here your flipping the blame on the next best target and frankly it's not right."
I flew away leaving them to think about what I said as I floated down the hall. I flew into the bioship and sat in my designated seat waiting for everyone else to board. I was surprised to see Captain Marvel walk into the bioship and take a seat in the middle of the ship where Megan made him an extra seat.
"Your coming along Captain" I asked as he sat down.
"Yeah why not it'll be fun," he answered enthusiastically as the seatbelts wrapped around him " this is so cool" he whispered mesmerized by the act.
Zaphira walked up the ramp next and jogged over taking a seat next to mine.
"Your coming as well," I asked as she rested her head on her arms.
She glanced up at me "Batman said I'm allowed to officially go on missions now that my training is over and besides I'm not leaving your side tonight after what happened."
"Well I'm glad you're tagging along, it'll be fun having you on missions. You sure you're ready for this?"
She gave me what was the equivalent of a snort "sweetie I was born ready."
Megan made Zaphira a bed like seat beside mine where she could lay on the ground but still be secure and not get tossed around if we were attacked. The rest of the team walked into the bioship and once everyone was securely buckled we took off for India.
(line)
We arrived in India hours later during the middle of the night. The ride was long and awkward; you could just feel the tension smothering the air. For the entire trip no one spoke and everyone was left to their own thoughts.
Robin and Artemis stood from their seats and hooked up to the cables Megan created when we finally arrived at the drop zone. Once they were hooked up they jumped through the small hole in the floor. They detached from the cables when they were firmly on the ground before quickly pulling out their weapons and running into the woods to canvas the area as Megan landed the bioship.
"All clear" Robin said as the rest of the team walked out of the ship and jumped off the ramp.
Aqualad pushed the symbol on his belt changing his uniform into stealth mode.
"Switch to stealth and we'll review mission parameters," he said as Megan turned her uniform into the black bodysuit and cape version.
"Parameters? We don't need no stinkin parameters," Wally said pushing the symbol on his chest changing his suit into stealth mode.
"It's recon we now what to do" Robin added walking away with KF.
"Kid, Robin" Aqualad said trying to make them stay, but this only seemed to infuriate them further.
Robin whipped around and glared at him "the four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us!"
"Or did you forget that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Wally hissed pulling his goggles down
"Guys please can we just take a second and-" but Robin cut me off before I could try to reason with them.
"We don't need or want your opinion Shade, we all know where your loyalties lie! You might be ok with being lied to, but we're not. So how about you do us all a favor and keep your mouth shut for once in your life!"
I stood there frozen not knowing what to say as I stared into his unfamiliarly harsh eyes. Everyone gapped at Robin surprised by his sudden hostility, this was the first time they've ever seen him get angry let alone raise his voice and snap at me. I quickly recovered from my shock and made my face emotionless masking the hurt his words inflicted while stalking over to him. I walked up until I was only about an inch from him and pushed my finger into his chest making him take a half a step back.
"Fine, if you want to be stupid and cause rifts in the team be my guest, but I'm not going to stand here and allow you insult me just to make yourself feel better. I don't want any part of yours or the team's ignorance because you're blinded by your own anger and frustration. Actually you know what since my opinions are obviously so disruptive for you I'll just leave and save you the distress of having to listen to them" I hissed turning on my heels and flew into the woods before anyone could stop me.
I stopped flying once I was out of the team's line of vision and instead started walking through the woods. I'd managed to cover a lot of ground when I heard a rustle coming from bushes behind me and turned to see Zaphira jogging out of the darkness.
"That was an interesting argument between you and Robin" she said as we walked further into the trees "you want to talk about it."
"There's nothing to talk about, I'm fine. I'm not the one acting stupid and infuriating, that's Robin. I can't believe he snapped at me for trying to get everyone to work together. We're a team and we're suppose to have each others backs, but all we're doing is acting like a bunch of enemies choosing sides on who were going to support within the team" I ranted clenching and unclenching my fists.
I finally built up enough anger that I growled and punched a tree making it and the two trees behind it snap in half from the force of the punch and the amount of earth power I put behind it.
"Well that's one heck of a punch" I heard someone say from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Aqualad and Marvel walking out of the trees.
I must really be out of it if I didn't hear them coming up behind me, especially since we're in the woods where there are leaves and twigs everywhere you step. I seriously need to get a grip or I'm going to end up making a major slip up.
"Are you ok Shade?" Aqualad asked walking up until he was right in front of me.
He didn't mention it directly since Marvel was around, but he knew how close Robin and I were so even if he probably didn't mean it Robin's words held more influence in my life than they probably should. We rarely fight and when we do the words hurt deeper than we think just because of how close we are.
I didn't want the hurt I was feeling to show so I turned into the emotionless Shade Gotham knew and feared so much. I put a lid on my emotions and masked the hurt and anger I was letting run free on my face earlier.
"I'm fine," I said spinning around to face the forest ahead. "What's important now is the mission, anything other than that doesn't matter," I said walking away.
Aqualad gave me a concerned glance, but decided not to push the subject.
The three of us walked into a clearing and Aqualad was about to say something when we heard a soft rustle coming from the trees. We went silent and listened trying to figure out where the sound came from.
I closed my eyes and strained my ears to hear further. I heard a loud crunching sound getting gradually closer and the ground shook beneath us with every crunch. I snapped my eyes open and lifted off the ground when the crunching got extremely close.
Just as my feet left the ground a massive elephant ran out of the trees and charged towards us. The elephant was about ten times the size of a regular elephant and its eyes were full of such anger and ferocity that you usually don't see in the animal's eyes. Then again you don't usually see a dinosaur-sized elephant stomping towards you with the intent to kill either.
Marvel flew past me and punched the elephant in the face making it skid back before it regained its balance. It wrapped its massive trunk around Marvel's waist and threw him into a tree.
Now that Marvel was out-of-the-way the animal focused its attention on Aqualad. It tried to stomp on him but Aqualad was able to avoid its feet by dodging and jumping out-of-the-way. Eventually Aqualad made a miss step and got hit in the back with the trunk.
"I feel sorry for you cause you chose the wrong day to attack me. I've got some pent-up anger I need to release and you're big enough to handle anything I dish out. How unfortunate for you" I said as I flew towards the beast.
Zaphira jumped on its foot and climbed up its body until she was on the elephants back. She sunk her teeth and claws into its flesh making it scream in pain. She released her grip and jumped down before the trunk was able to hit her.
I threw out my hands as the giant took a step forward and sunk the earth underneath its foot letting it fall through the floor. It tried to pull its foot free but I kept the earth around it firm preventing it from freeing itself. It tried to take another step forward but I sunk the earth under that foot as well and the elephant fell on its side having lost its balance.
While my attention was diverted on keeping the beast in the ground another elephant ran out of the trees and hit me with its trunk sending me flying. I righted myself in the air just before I crashed into a tree.
I flipped in the air and changed directions so I was flying back towards the elephant. I slashed it in the side with an air attack making it fall back as Aqualad and Marvel stood up.
Since I wasn't focusing on it anymore the elephant with its feet stuck in the ground was finally able to pull itself free and stood side by side with his partner. Marvel flew towards one and dodged the trunk attack before punching it in the face dividing the two beasts from each other.
Aqualad looked up curiously at the elephant when it's trunk was raised before a look of understanding crossed his face. He pulling out his water bearers and created two water whips as he ran towards the animal, dodging its feet as he got closer.
He jumped on the elephant's foot and used it as leverage to jump from to propel himself through the air. He brought up one whip to slash the collar around the animal's neck that I hadn't noticed earlier before using the other whip to wrap around the collar and pull it to the floor. Once the animal was free of the collar its eyes turned soft and it walked away into the forest without any further resistance.
"The collars must be some kind of mind controlling device," I said flying over to the elephant Marvel was fighting. I lifted a piece of rock from the ground and molded it into a large sharp knife blade. I flew under the elephant and used the rock to slash the collar off. Just like his companion he immediately stopped fighting and disappeared into the trees once he was free of the collar.
"Pretty sweet the way you figured out the problem was the collars" Marvel said to Aqualad once the elephants were gone.
"But the collars indicate an intelligence behind the attack. The rest of the team must also be at risk," Aqualad concluded putting a finger up to his ear to activate his com, but winced when his ear was filled with a high-pitched shrill noise.
"Ugh comm's jammed and Miss Martian failed to establish a telepathic link before we split up" Aqualad groaned.
"Actually you let everyone split up before communications were set," Marvel pointed out making me glare at him.
"Way to help the situation Captain," I muttered under my breath.
"They would not listen!" Aqualad defended.
"I guess, but back at the cave Batman stopped everyone from arguing with one word" Marvel said.
"Because Batman is…Batman" Aqualad said as if that would explain it.
Marvel held up his hands "hey you don't have to tell me. When I first joined the League all he did was boss me around and its hard not to take it personally, but I never disobeyed an order and that's probably what kept me alive."
"Batman takes command. He has to, for the sake of the League. Thank you for helping me understand" Aqualad said gratefully.
"Hey wisdom of Solomon" Marvel grinned pointing to his head.
"Really I never would've guessed," I said sarcastically making Marvel glare at me playfully.
Megan contacted Aqualad telepathically and while they talked Captain Marvel spotted a tiger in the woods.
"Cool a tiger! I'll be right back," he yelled flying after the tiger before anyone could stop him.
"Captain wait!" Aqualad yelled, but he was already gone.
"Hey speed of Mercury" I said imitating Marvel's voice. Aqualad smiled at my imitation before getting serious again.
He told Megan to establish a telepathic link and she did as she was told. While we talked to the team Zaphira walked around the area as our look out in case anymore collar controlled animals showed up.
"Link established" I heard Megan say in my head.
"Should you really be giving us orders" Artemis said to Aqualad "and should you really be following them?" she said to Megan.
"Listen please" Aqualad tried, but his voice was lost among the others.
"Hey Kaldur, KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. 'Course since we're moles your probably think we attacked ourselves" Robin quipped.
"If he did he wouldn't tell you" Artemis said.
I rolled my eyes and scoffed. Robin must've picked up on it "Is there something you'd like to say Shade?" he said slightly annoyed.
I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms "No I've got nothing to say. I was told to keep my comments to myself and keep quiet like a good little girl so that's exactly what I'm doing" I hissed my voice as cold as ice.
Robin paused and if I were with him I would've seen him look towards the ground guilt creeping into his eyes.
"Superboy are you online or just pouting?" Megan asked.
"Busy, call back later" was his quick response before he cut off communication.
Aqualad, Zaphira, and I walked into the woods to look for Marvel as the conversation continued. We walked up to a group of metal poles sticking out of the ground with drag marks in-between them leading farther into the woods.
"What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us," Wally said.
"He should be chalant, way chalant," Robin agreed.
"How can we be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?" Artemis snapped making me pinch the bridge of my nose at the hypocrisy of her statement. She expects others to tell her all their secrets but doesn't expect to have to do the same.
"Did he really think you or I could be the mole?" Wally said to Robin.
"We've known each other for years!" Robin said astounded by the idea.
"Trust is a two-way street" Artemis added.
"And you know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them. Not that we'd do that, never" Megan said.
The constant bickering was starting to try my patience until I'd finally had enough and snapped
"Will all just SHUT UP already! You're all acting like immature little two-year olds! " I yelled making everyone go quiet as I continued.
"You're all acting like Aqualad's the worst person in the world just because he kept one thing from us, I get it your angry, but don't sit here and act like you all don't have secrets because news flash EVERYONE has secrets! Stop acting all high and mighty like you've never lied to others because that's straight bullshit! You're all mad at Aqualad for holding back information when we're all guilty of the exact same thing, and don't say you aren't because I know you are. There's no way in hell none of you haven't kept a secret from the team, so get off your high horse and stop bashing on Aqualad for a slip up we're all guilty of" I yelled finally speaking my mind.
I clenched my fists and the earth shook and cracked around me in response to my anger.
"Shade" Aqualad said nervously taking a step forward.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself. "Sorry" I whispered aloud so the team wouldn't hear as the earth stopped trembling. He placed a hand on my shoulder as a way of saying 'its ok I understand.'
All was calm and peaceful until the bickering started up again making me groan in frustration.
"If we do have secrets at least they don't affect the team in any way" Artemis retaliated.
"Oh Artemis like you're one to talk" I said placing my hands on my hips even though she couldn't see it.
"What's that suppose to mean?" she asked.
"Nothing" I muttered closing the topic before it went further.
Robin and I found out about Artemis' criminal relations through extensive research when she first joined the team, but we didn't tell anyone since it was her secret to share. She wasn't like her family and we were going to give her the benefit of the doubt until she showed us otherwise.
"No go ahead and spit it out Shade since you obviously have so much to say" she hissed but before I could respond with a smart comeback Aqualad cut in.
"Enough!" he yelled pulling a metal pole out of the ground. "Captain Marvel has been captured and we must work as a team to save him."
"Hmph under your leadership I don't think-"
"This is not up for debate" Aqualad said cutting off Wally's complaint "You all chose me to lead, when this mission is over if you wish to select a new leader I will happily step down, but until that time I am in command here." His voice was calm but firm and held authority that left no room for argument. His tone demanded respect and obedience; it was the tone of a true leader.
He threw down the pole and started walking away telling the group to meet up at the rendezvous point. As we walked I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a proud smile.
"Now that's the leader I always knew was in you" I said so only we could hear it. Aqualad smirked as we ran to towards the rendezvous point.
(line)
We'd met up with the rest of the team and were now running towards the large compound in the middle of the forest.
When we met up at the rendezvous point we needed to know where the command center for the collars was so I placed my hands on the ground and concentrated on sending out vibrations through the earth looking for any foreign signatures that shouldn't be in a forest. This was usually very hard to do so I barely did it, but since nature was the dominant force here it was easier to sense things using my elemental powers here than it was in the city.
We arrived at the compound and hid in the bushes to assess the situation and create a plan of attack. I hid with Wally, Robin, and Zaphira behind a bush while Megan floated in the trees in camouflage mode and Aqualad and Artemis hid in the bushes on the other side of the building.
"I'll fly over" Megan offered.
"Negatory, the field is stamped like a dome around the whole compound," Wally said seeing the invisible barrier through a special setting in his goggles.
Robin started hacking into the system using the holographic computer in his glove "Pylons are insulated, but one good shock could cause a momentary gap."
Artemis loaded an arrow into her bow seeing the control panel with the button to shut off the dome "I see a target" she said aiming the bow preparing to shoot.
"Then be ready to hit it. Be ready all of you" Aqualad said before running towards the compound.
His tattoos started glowing as he activated his electricity power and placed his hands on the invisible dome. He pulled against the invisible force creating and small hole just large enough for Artemis to shoot an arrow through.
"Now!" Wally yelled once the hole was big enough.
Artemis released the arrow letting it whizz through the air, hit the button, and shut off the dome. Once the barrier was deactivated we ran towards Aqualad, but something still felt...off.
I stopped running and noticed that Robin had stopped beside me probably having the same feeling as me. I looked up and froze when I saw the collared monkey perched on the roof of the building looking over the entire field.
Seeing us enter the clearing the monkey screamed and activated an alarm alerting everyone to our presence. We pulled out our weapons as a swarm of monkeys appeared on the roof. They howled and snarled at us waiting for the signal to attack. The head monkey screamed giving the order and the army of monkeys jumped off the building racing towards us.
Robin and I stood back to back ready to face the threat together. One monkey jumped towards me and I kicked it away just as another one pounced aiming for my face, but I punched it to the ground.
Robin threw a batarang and a net shot out trapping the three monkeys racing towards him. They struggled and chomped on the rope trying to free themselves, but the net firmly dug into the ground and the rope was virtually impossible to break, trust me I've tried many time. Three monkeys rushed me at the same time and I stepped away from Robin giving me a little space to maneuver. I was able to toss one aside with my telekinesis, but the other two were able to pounce on me.
I fell to the ground and held up my arm to keep the monkeys from ripping my face off with their gnashing teeth. I struggled to toss the monkeys off and as I fought I heard Aqualad yell, "Remove their collars."
"Sounds easy when he says it" I grunted grabbing one monkey by the arm and threw it into a tree. I flipped myself over so the last monkey was on the ground beneath me and ripped his collar off before he could react. The monkey, just like the elephants, scampered off into the woods once the collar was removed.
I flipped back onto my feet and saw Robin struggling against two monkeys like I was earlier. I picked up one of Artemis' sharp arrows that had fallen on the ground and gripped it in my hand. I aimed and threw it at the monkeys using the wind as back up force to propel the arrow into the monkeys collars simultaneously breaking them off before they ran into the woods.
Robin stood up and was about to say what I think was a thank you when his face suddenly became serious. He quickly pulled out two batarangs from his belt and threw them in my direction with a simple flick of his wrists. I turned to see two monkeys fall to the floor with their collars slashed off. They must've snuck up behind me while I was dealing with Robin's monkeys.
Zaphira ran to my side and growled as a large group of monkeys lined up to face us. Robin, Zaphira, and I stood shoulder to shoulder ready for the attack.
Zaphira jumped first and attacked a monkey as it jumped towards me. She pushed it down to the ground with her giant paws and pinned it to the floor without much difficulty because of the size difference. She used her other paw to shred the collar without hurting the monkey. Once the collar was shredded she lifted her foot allowing the monkey to freely run into the woods. She did the same thing to another monkey as it tried to hop on her back.
Robin jumped over Zaphira and pulled out something small from his belt as he flipped in the air. I looked at him confused wondering what he'd pulled out since it wasn't big enough to be a smoke bomb or a batarang. When he landed the small object in his hand transformed into the long staff Priscilla gave him. He twirled it in his hands before holding it out in front of him as he crouched low to the ground.
"Lets get this party started shall we," he grinned as three monkeys rushed towards him. In a flash he twirled the staff and hit the first monkey with the end of the staff sending currents of electricity through its body knocking the monkey unconscious before doing the same to the other. The last monkey was smarter than the other two and instead of going for Robin directly he tried to go from the side. Robin stuck the end of the staff into the ground and placed both hands on it before swinging his body around on it to kick the monkey into a nearby bush.
He landed firmly on the ground and smirked as he twirled the staff in his hands again.
"I love this staff," he said as I heard a faint crunch from behind me.
In a split second I twirled and hit a monkey with my foot while it was in the air sending it crashing into the ground. Another monkey jumped towards me and I grabbed it by the neck slamming it into the ground before ripping off the collar in less than 10 seconds flat. I lifted my hand and crushed all the collars off the monkeys we'd just defeated with my telekinesis.
"Nice job Dawn" Zaphira said sounding proud.
"Same to you" I said.
I heard a loud grunt coming from the compound behind me and turned to see a large intimidating gorilla walking out the doors. He wore a green harness over his chest, which was attached to a string of ammunition for the large machine gun clenched in his hands. On his head was a small red beret, but unlike the other animals he didn't have a collar wrapped around his neck, which meant he was participating in this willingly unlike the others.
He sniffed the air around him suspiciously and grabbed what seemed to be just air, but when he slammed it into the ground I saw Megan came out of camouflage mode as she moaned in pain. He pointed his gun at her back and was about to fire when his attention was diverted away from Megan.
"Get your paws off her you darn dirty ape" Wally yelled running towards the animal.
Unfortunately Wally didn't take into account all the muscle the gorilla had so when he ran into the animals chest he bounced right off and flew through the air since at the speed he was going it was like running into a brick wall.
Fortunately Wally's distraction gave Megan enough time to regain her wits and lift the gorilla into the air before throwing him into the wall of the building. It crashed through the concrete creating a large hole in the side of the wall. Megan flew into the building and the rest of us weren't far behind.
"It's The Brain" Wally said seeing the villain standing in the corner.
Artemis huffed "I can see it's a brain."
Wally rolled his eyes at her lack of villain knowledge "not a brain, The Brain."
"In the flesh, so to speak" The Brain said with a heavy French accent "Mallah" he yelled at the gorilla.
"Well at least we know his name now so I don't have to keep calling him the gorilla" I thought as Mallah pulled out a remote control from a secret compartment in his harness.
He pushed a button on the remote activating a group of metal poles that popped out of the ground. The poles released a force that made us all fall to the ground unable to move. It was like we were being pinned down with the weight of a mountain on our backs.
"Miss Martian, Superboy now!" Aqualad yelled as Megan's eyes started to glow a bright white. Mallah let out a bewildered grunt as the remote flew out of his hands and over to Megan. She used her telekinesis to push the button on the remote control that deactivate the poles and shut off the crushing force keeping us down.
As we stood up from the floor Superboy punched through the wall causing rock and dust to fly through the air. Once the dust settled I noticed that he was standing next to a pure white male wolf that was the same size as Zaphira.
The wolf growled at Mallah with hatred for being controlled and was the first to charge. He jumped on Mallah making him lose his balance and stumble, which provided Wally with the perfect opportunity to run in and kick Mallah in the face. Mallah's anger grew and he started shooting at KF trying to hit him, but Wally just used his super speed to dodge the bullets.
Robin swung in on his grappling hook and kicked Mallah in the face sending him crashing into the concrete floor. I flew over and lifted him into the air before slamming him into the ground again. I had to leap out-of-the-way as he picked himself off the floor and started shooting at me, which Zaphira didn't appreciate at all.
She roared as she jumped forward and bit Mallah's shooting arm making him howl in pain. She brought up her paw and swung it over his chest breaking off his harness and gun set while giving him a decent sized scratch. She used her weight to push against Mallah and sent him falling to the ground.
Mallah brought up his arm and punched Zaphira in the gut before picking her up and tossing her across the room. She let out a small yelp as she skidded across the floor. Since she wasn't able to stop herself from sliding she painfully crashed into the wall landing next to the white wolf's feet. He looked down at her in what looked like concern.
While the rest of the team engaged the enemy he bent his head and brought it under Zaphira's body gently helping her off the floor. She leaned into his side for support until she regained enough energy to stand on her own again. He barked at her softly making sure she was all right and she responded with a soft yip telling him she was ok.
Zaphira shook her head to clear it and stood beside the white wolf as they both growled at Mallah when he picked his gun off the floor. His harness was broken thanks to Zaphira so he couldn't strap it to his back anymore, but he could still hold it and shoot.
I flew over to the two wolves as I saw Aqualad run over to Captain Marvel and free him from the surgery table he was strapped to. Marvel thanked Aqualad for the rescue before bending down to rip off the collar around the tiger's neck that saved his life earlier. The tiger stood up grateful and turned to Mallah growling at the large gorilla in disgust for siding with the Brain over his fellow animal community.
Mallah and the Brain were surrounded. Aqualad, Marvel, and the tiger where on their left while Robin, Artemis, Megan, and Wally were on their right. Superboy, the wolves, and I were in the middle facing Mallah as he glared at us and gripped his gun tighter. Zaphira and Wolf growled at him threateningly as they both took a step forward so they were in front of Superboy and I.
Superboy punched his fists together and cracked his knuckles looking intimidating as he narrowed his eyes at Mallah.
"Try it, I hate monkeys," he growled clenching his fists.
"No Mallah this will not be our Waterloo" the Brain said as his machine body started to expand and unfold. "Au revoir mes amis" he said as the machine stopped unfolding.
"Get down!" Wally screamed just before the lights turned off. I tensed ready for anything and a couple of seconds later the lights flickered back on, but Mallah and the Brain were already gone.
"Wait that big weapon thing was a light switch?" Wally said confused.
"Somebody should really tell him about things called small light switches in the wall. It makes turning the lights on and off a lot easier" I said before turning to the white wolf.
I stood in front of him and he was tall enough to where we were almost at eye level when we were both standing. He was about as tall as Superboy so he was a little taller than me, but if he titled his head we could look into each other's eyes. I lifted my hands and placed them on either sides of his face.
"Thank you for helping Zaphira. You didn't know her, but you helped her anyway and for that I am grateful."
I saw him glance at Zaphira in his peripheral with an expression I couldn't quite decipher, but it was gone before I could try to figure out what it was. He turned back to me and nodded as a way of saying 'your welcome.' I stepped back and patted him on the back before walking over to Zaphira.
"You ok Z" I asked using her new nickname.
"I'm fine Dawn no need to worry. It was nice of our new friend to help me earlier," she said looking at the wolf as he walked over to the tiger by Marvel's side.
I looked up to see what she was staring at and smirked "Ohhhhhh someone's got a crush on the big bad wolf."
"I do not," she yelled defensively "I was only acknowledging his help and admiring his fighting skills."
"I think you were admiring much more than his fighting skills Z," I teased nudging her in the side playfully. I moved out-of-the-way as she tried to push me back and laughed flying away as she chased after me.
(line)
We were back at the bioship and Aqualad was busy releasing all the remaining animals from their collars. Since the Brain was no longer around the mind control feature of the collars was deactivated and the remaining animals came willingly to get the cursed collars off their necks. I was standing beside Superboy and Zaphira watching as he talked to the white wolf.
"The rest of the pack is gone, what are you still doing here?" Superboy said as the wolf refused to leave.
"I think he wants to stay with you," I said grinning as I leaned against the wolf's side.
Zaphira allowed me to do it since she trusted the wolf not to hurt me and the male wolf allowed it since he liked me second best to Superboy. We'd only just met, but I already felt a connection with the adorable yet fierce white wolf.
"Can I keep him?" Conner asked getting excited by the idea.
"Ha first the Sphere now this beast? Dude you sure make a habit of collecting strays" Wally laughed.
"Maybe because he's such a stray himself" Megan commented as she walked up.
Her and Conner looked at each other and seemed to be having a telepathic conversation from the constant expression changes they kept making. I looked away to give them some privacy even though I couldn't hear what they were saying.
"If we're keeping him then he's going to need a name" I said once their conversation was over.
"How about Krypto?" Wally suggested, but that only resulted in a disgusted growl from the wolf.
"Pass" Conner said seeing the wolf's disapproval.
"Besides isn't that taken" Megan said.
Off to the side I saw Aqualad walking up the ramp of the bioship, but paused when Robin asked him a question. "Look I need to know, why did you keep the mole Intel a secret?"
Robin turned to Aqualad as the rest of the team walked over to hear his answer finally ready to actually listen to what he had to say this time.
"The source of the tip was Sportsmaster," Aqualad said making me raise an eyebrow.
"Why am I not surprised it was a villain who told Aqualad about the mole" I thought understanding why he kept the info from us. Knowing Sportsmaster he probably only said something to make us nervous and turn on each other.
"What?" Artemis yelled, "You can't trust him!"
"I do not," Aqualad said remaining calm "It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide the team with false information."
"And given how this mission went he nearly succeeded, but you had to consider it might be true" Robin said finally understanding.
"Yes as leader I did. In which case I did not wish to alert the traitor" Aqualad confirmed.
"Hate to say it but makes sense" Robin sighed.
"Told ya he had a good reason," I muttered folding my arms.
Robin turned hearing my comment, but remained silent.
"I am still prepared to step down" Aqualad said completely serious.
"All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader?" I said raising my hand.
Everyone quickly followed my lead and raised their hands while giving Aqualad apologetic smiles.
"Guess its unanimous" Marvel said placing a hand on Aqualad's shoulder before shaking his hand "See you tomorrow" he said turning away from us.
"You're not coming back with us?" I asked.
"Nope gotta fly," he said before flying away.
"So what are you gonna call him" I asked Superboy as he patted the wolf on the head.
Conner thought about it "What's wrong with Wolf?"
"Generic, but acceptable" Wally said liking the name.
"I love it! Its short and sweet yet strong and fierce just like him," I said giving Wolf a hug which he returned by nudging his head into mine. I stood from leaning against his side and he walked over to Zaphira. They seemed to be having a conversation in wolf language as they walked into the bioship together.
"You know they're going to become the best of friends right," I whispered to Superboy who just grinned before walking over to Megan. Wally was talking to Artemis off to the side so I was left standing alone.
I was about to start walking towards the bioship when I felt someone gently grab my arm. I looked over my shoulder to see Robin holding my arm and I glared at him.
"Shade can we talk for a sec" he asked softly as I turned to face him. He returned his arms to his sides while I folded mine across my chest.
"I don't know can we? In order to have a conversation both parties have to be able to talk, and unfortunately I'm not allowed to do that at the moment" I said coldly.
Robin winced at the harshness of my tone, but took a step forward so were we almost touching "I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted today. I was angry and felt betrayed, but that's still no excuse for saying the things I did. I know I hurt you and that's the one thing I hate doing. It kills me when I purposely do something that I know will hurt you and still do it anyways. You didn't deserve to be yelled at because you did nothing wrong."
During his apology I stared at the ground refusing to look at him so he brought a finger under my chin and lifted it gently forcing me to look into his eyes.
We were hidden in the shadows and most of the team was already in the bioship so Robin decided it was safe to take off his mask. I looked into his mesmerizing blue eyes and instead of seeing the overwhelmingly carefree look they usually held they were consumed with guilt, shame, and regret.
"Dawn please say something," he said softly, desperately waiting for my response. In that instant all my anger towards him evaporated and I pulled him into a hug.
"It's ok Rob all is forgiven. I know you didn't really mean anything you said," I whispered as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
We released after about a minute and I smiled at him "you know I think it's funny how we can never stay mad at each other for longer than a day" I said as he put his mask back on before we started walking towards the bioship.
"That's because a friendship like ours is pretty much impossible to break" Robin said being completely serious for once. I hoped on his back and he brought his hands under my knees to keep me steady.
"You got that right," I said placing my chin on his shoulder.
He carried me into the bioship and instead of sitting in my usual seat I sat in-between Zaphira and Wolf using their bodies as a cushion to lean on. Wolf's seat was just like Zaphira's and they were next to each other to they formed a U shape when they were both lying down. I sat in the middle of the U and quickly fell asleep wanting to get some sleep on the long trip ahead back to the cave.
Hurrah Wolf has finally appeared! Wolf's one of my favorite characters in the show and I'm so excited that I've finally gotten to where he's introduced in the team.
If it wasn't clear in the story Wolf feels a strong bond with Dawn just like Zaphira does but it's slightly weaker than Zaphira's since he isn't her official animal guardian. Dawn's going to be good friends with Wolf and she's going to be his second favorite on the team next to Superboy since Conner is basically like his owner. I'm still trying to figure out where I want to go with Zaphira and Wolf's relationship, but I'm excited to see where it leads. Until next time my friends! Please R&R.