A/N
Chapter 18? Is this for real? And yet 4,400 reads? The glory of this site, I suppose.
Reviews:
kash890: Sweating out of the eyes is a serious medical condition and should be taken seriously. Go see your local doctor!
patattack: You are 'the man' and don't you say otherwise!
MoustachedCat: Whilst reading your review, I started to cry. Is that normal? As for the ages, here we go. Robin is 13, but I'd say he was 12. Superboy is 1. Kaldur is 16. Artemis is 15, and Kyle and Wally are 16. Miss M is 48, I think.
Elvisfonz23: ... need I say more?
Chapter 18: Good... Gorilla?
Kyle's POV
"Where are you!?" the obviously angered and demanding Black Canary questions over the communications, begging the question 'have they realised that we are missing yet' and judging by the fact that she is here calling us, they have already noticed. We are so dead when we get back...
"Nowhere in particular." Robin was the first of us to take the initiative. "I believe we are going on an educational day trip. To..."
"We heard that the Amazon rainforest is very educational this time of year." I save Robin from slipping up. "If we come back, we will miss out on this wondrous opportunity." I try my best to hide the sarcasm of my voice by keeping a relatively straight face, despite the several temptations.
"Do you know the meaning of 'do not leave'?" she then nonchalantly asks.
Wally instantly opens his mouth to respond, but I close it with a swift slap on the back of his head. Looking at me innocently, I stare him down until he sighs and relaxes in his chair. That's one less nuisance out of the way, I think and refocus my whimsical attention.
"We understand your concern, Black Canary, and we want you to know that we will be quite content and safe in our travels." Kaldur speaks up in his usual blank expression. However, it's a rare situation indeed that the stubbornly noble Aqualad would lie, even to ensure that the mission could go ahead. On the other hand, I lie nearly every time I open my mouth, so I can comprehend Kaldur's decision to deceive. "Anything else?"
A drawn-out pause follows as Canary apparently has a choice to make in regards to the members of Young Justice. The whirring of brain cells can be heard by us in the form of the occasional mumble or whisper. "Whatever you kids are doing, it had better be worth it." she eventually concludes and the communication ends with that.
No-one aboard the ship dares make a sound as the realisation dawns upon our young minds. This is it. There is no going back now. If we are to finish what we started, we need to collect our thoughts and prepare to possibly be rejected from the Justice League. Disobedience (even when Batman says you can leave) is heavily frowned upon and I'm sure Wonder Woman will have our heads for this indiscretion.
"Sweet mother of any kind soul that has ever existed, that was intense." Wally breaks the silence.
"Thanks for stating the blatantly obvious." Artemis sighs. "What now? Go on some ridiculous quest to find our not-so-secret stalkers, without backup or anyone knowing what we're doing? Sounds perfect."
Robin purposely coughs to get our undivided focus. "Well... at least we won't have the 'adults' breathing down our necks for a while, so we shouldn't waste any more time than we have to. Which means that all of us have to listen to Kaldur." he says. "Artemis, Kyle, and Wally. That's pointed at you guys." he adds on for emphasis.
"Great." Artemis mutters, but I only just hear it.
"Where do we begin, Kaldur?" Robin invites the Atlantean to take the reins of the briefing. "Start off at the whole point at the mission."
Sternly, Aqualad looks to us every one of us as though figuring out something. An educated guess is that he's quickly formulated a plan for us young rebels. Yet, he doesn't divulge his planning and just stares at us, judgefully.
Eventually, he clears his throat. "As you may know, we are here to take on the mysterious thing, person or organisation, that has hounded us since the very beginning of our team. Their purpose is unclear and Ra's told us to ask Grodd, so we are going to. One by one, we will discover what the 'light' is, together." he warily informs. The slight droop in his expression hints that maybe the stress is reaching the elder of the group, however he always tries to carry the burden alone. I guess that's what leadership is all about.
"Who is Grodd?" Miss Martian asks the question playing on my mind.
"Gorilla Grodd is one of the Flash's enemies. He's a gorilla that developed intelligence and psychic abilities after being tested on by humans." Conner matter-of-factly clears up the matter, earning him puzzled looks from the gang. "What? I do my homework."
"Getting to Grodd will not be easy as he is on the middle of a heavily fortified island, full of his fellow primates. Caution and carefulness is key when approaching him." Kaldur ignores the previous discussion and carries on with his briefing.
"We do have a plan, right?" Kid Flash speaks out, hopeful.
"Yes, we do. And it will take patience and calm." That rules out...
"Guess Superboy and Kyle are sitting this one out." Artemis snorts. "Have fun, guys."
Robin tiredly shakes his head. "They aren't. Both of them are on shock and awe. Whilst we are sneaking up to Grodd, they are going to... subtly... distract the forces on the island."
Predictably, that would mean only one thing: blow anything up that is destructable, and sponge up the damage from the several gorilla's that want to rip us apart for intruding on their private paradise. I can't say that I blame them, though.
Awkwardly, I raise my hand like a school kid. "Does this mean that I will get hurt?"
Robin and Aqualad amusingly share an expression that can demonstrate the words that they are about to say.
"Yeah. I think so." Oh man.
Later on...
"We are the bait... again. No-one is going to help us... again. I'm going to wish I was in a youth support group and not a hero team... again." my mumblings and complaints grow as we delve deeper into the dense jungle, full of immensely tall trees that span upwards of two-hundred feet. And we are right in the center of the wooden mess.
"If you say something again, I'm going to run away and never come back." was Conner's threat in response. But, running away doesn't seem like a horrible idea; escaping all of the endless drama, avoiding the petulance of Superboy, and the weirdness of the whole team.
"Sure." I mutter under my breath, continuing the trudge through the jungle. Whenever we avoid trouble, it always finds us, but when we try and seek out something to fight, it makes us chase it. "Absolutely fantastic."
"Shut up." Conner curtly snaps.
Just when I was starting to release my grasp on trying, a twig snaps from behind us. Collectively, we swerve around to face the direction of the telltale sound.
"You heard that, right?" I ask the clone, simply clarifying the predicament.
"Yeah." Kon-El answers whilst attentively scanning the distance in the background.
"If those our not-so-welcoming owners of the island, we can't fight them here, the terrain gives them the advantage." I point out the unevenness and the various angles of attack they could possibly dart in from.
"What do you suggest?" he promptly asks.
Brain cells already working to come up with a definitive course of action, a smile shapes on my face as I choose one in particular. Turning round to the Kryptonian, I apologise. "Sorry in advance for this." with that, I firmly grab Conner around the stomach and kick off into the air. Even though I can't see Conner's face, I imagine it's one of shock or astonishment.
Mapping out the surrounding sea of trees, I notice a fairly noticeable clearing to the edge of the left side of the forest. Theoretically, it should confiscate their element of surprise and allow me and Superboy to fight on our prefered battleground- open and easy to maneuver around.
Zooming as quickly as I can to the new site, it gives me a brief moment to have a genuine think about the way me and Conner are being used. Sure, it makes sense to utilise your two most durable people as living tanks, yet it does appear to be slightly on the biased scale. Whereas we can take a load of punishment, Wally could be an equally effective ploy by speeding around them in circles. Do they trust us? Or don't they?
Touching down and willingly letting go of the clone, he stumbles slightly but soon regains his balance. However, the way he can barely walk without tipping to his right makes me believe the shock is still rooted in his system. Poor guy. He's never flown like that before.
"Don't. Do. That. Again." he snarls without facing me.
"Remind me after we deal with the rabies-ridden monkeys."
From the treeline, streams of massive gorillas appear, clad in what resembles military uniform. When ordinary people think of monkeys they think of the animalistic tendencies of our supposed ancestors, but looking at these primates, they are co-ordinated and move in military precision. "We aren't facing gorillas, man; we're facing an army."
Shrugging his shoulders, Conner looks at me. "So."
Resisting the habitual urge to huff and sigh, I bit my lip in frustration. "So..." I draw out, hoping for him to see reason. "We can't charge in like soldiers in World War One, we have to play it smart and divide their forces."
"No, we don't."
Leaping with a battle cry towards the forces, he crashes into the main bulk of the gorillas, numbering around thirty. "Why do I even bother?" I sigh before I could curb my addiction. "Now, I have to get him out of the mess, therefore putting me in danger as well. The joys of babysitting a one year old with the temperament of a hormonal teenager."
Entering the fray myself by doing bombing runs over the gorillas, I catch sight of a particular hero jumping around like a rabid madman. Does he even think about what he's doing? To me he's just going in headfirst to everything in his path.
Constructing a large broom, I literally sweep the floor with the opposition, which lasts until I'm knocked out of the air by a rocket. Who showed gorillas how to use rockets? Animal rights activists would have a field day investigating this.
What ensues, I can only describe as giant gorillas piling onto me whilst I was on the ground. Their combined weight endeavours to crush my spine, even with the protective aura of the lantern ring, which would take extreme amounts of pressure.
Grunting with the effort, I feed on Conner's constant fury and explode outwards with energy, sending the oversized monkeys left, right, and center. The feeling afterwards is extraordinary, but I have little time to bask as something slams into my right temple. Seriously, these hits do hurt a lot. The armour doesn't negate the pain factor of each blow, so I get rocked every time someone superpowered decides to use my face as a stress releaser.
"Superboy?" I call out during short bursts of concentration. "Superboy!"
"What!?" I only just hear his response through the loud grunting of the soldiers.
"They had better make us cookies when we get back!"
Artemis' POV- Meanwhile
Slithering into the 'palace' of the island- more like a science lab than anything to do with royalty, doubts start to root. This Grodd is apparently a telepath and can force people to do his bidding. Now that sounds awfully great, considering that only one of us (maybe Robin too?) can actually withstand a mental invasion. The rest of us will have to come up with a way to stop us from starting to fight each other to the death, all in the name of an enhanced gorilla. Sounds too unrealistic if you ask me. I might be a slight pessimist, but this is truly a situation that calls for actual common sense and logic. Besides, if we die, at least it ends at the hands of a friend.
"I can feel him." Miss Martian states out of the blue as soon as we step through the doorway.
Putting our minds together, this little strike force decided to not form a telepathic bonds as that might alert Grodd to our presence, and we want the advantage for as long as humanly possible. Although, this also makes it more difficult to communicate silently.
Sometimes, I wish that I had superpowers, so that I can be of more use to missions. Without arrows, I practically become obsolete. Yeah, I can dance around like Robin, but I'm definitely not as skilled as the boy wonder, hence the name I guess.
"Close formation." Aqualad commands us and we automatically tighten up to each other. "When approaching Grodd, M'gann will try her best to stop him from seizing our minds. Steel yourself from his assaults and victory will be ensured."
"Easier said than done." I whisper. "The thing is a huge gorilla that can access minds."
"Nonetheless, we must take Grodd down, if we stand a gambler's chance at getting that information." Kaldur reaffirms the plan.
Wally turns his head. "Aqua's right. We do this as a team."
Team. A word that I wouldn't use to describe our mottly band of heroes with a curfew. Instead, I would probably use 'family' as that serves the same purpose. No matter the odds stacked against us, we have always stuck together through hardship and pressure. At least, that's what Young Justice means to me- the family I never had.
Reaching the main section of the research facility, we stumble across a massive gorilla typing away on a computer without looking up or making a sound, signs that it's concentrating and not paying attention.
Gazing over to Kaldur, we all await the signal to commence our attack, but none comes. Aqualad appears fixated with the figure of Grodd, his eyes glued to him.
Suddenly, he brings out his channelers and whips me across the room, landing violently on a broken-down wall. "I did try to tell him, didn't I? Glad the plan worked." I sarcastically wince at the effort of getting up from the wall.
Whilst Aqualad turns on the others and attempts to surprise them, I notice that Grodd is still stood doing his own carefree thing, not even bothering to sneak peeks at the confrontation. "Well... I guess it's up to the human to save the day." I huff and sprint at the beast, swiftly nocking an arrow, and aiming at Grodd with an electric trick arrow. "Eat this."
Taking in a steadying breath, I let loose the arrow, directed at the villain; still running towards the hulking primate. Unexpectedly, a blur of yellow later and Wally holds the arrow that was aimed for his obvious mind-controller.
The speedster jerks and slumps to the ground as the electricity flows through his body. "Good one." I sneer at the failure of Wally. Even when he turns 'bad' he finds a way to mess everything up.
Head snapping up, Grodd snarls at me. Perhaps he somehow sensed that Kid Flash has gone down.
"Stupid human." it remarks in a very snobbish accent. "Did you honestly believe that you could defeat me? I am Grodd!" with that, I'm once again thrown to the side, smacking my side on the hard floor. "Humans are so naïve and weak."
Shaking away the pain and picking myself up, I aim at Grodd again. "That's what makes us so great at everything."
"No. What made humans special was their intellect, as you are physically weak and puny compared to other beings. However, now gorillas are as smart as humans, and that means our time has come." Grodd shakes his head.
"You're wrong. What makes us special is..." I pause, discretely palming a drug arrow that causes vertigo. One that I especially made if Kyle steps out of line. "our resourcefulness."
Lobbing my bow at Grodd, I kickflip up and run at him. Leaping over the desk, I bring about the arrow like a syringe and embed it into the gorilla's arm.
Roaring at the sudden piercing of his skin, Grodd instinctively swipes at me and catches my cheek. A metallic taste fills my mouth as I dodge Grodd's next wild attacks. With the drug dose, he is beginning to act more like an animal than an intelligent being, grunting and making aggressive sounds.
Out of nowhere, light blue crashes into Grodd, who stutters and stumbles on impact. Aqualad enters my view, followed closely by the rest of Young Justice, excluding Conner and Kyle. "You're reign is over. Without concentration, you can't bend our minds." Aqualad says.
"It will never be over, stupid humans. I am Grodd!" he shoots back.
"Tell us about the light! Why is it targeting us!?" Robin takes a brazen stab at intimidation, although I daresay that he's nowhere near as scary as Batman. Probably because the bat is a full-grown, muscular man, and Rob is... small.
"We are going to show you... soon enough." Grodd flings himself out of the window behind him.
"Scary... and very ominous." Kyle shows up from the back, sporting an extremely bruised face. "Owww!."
A/N
Thanks for reading guys, and I'll see you next wednesday.