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Earth-16: Go!

Chapter 3: A Beast is Born

Undisclosed Location

January 14th 2011, 02:53 GMT

Robin swore as scarlet beam of energy flashed through the air and he rolled out of its path. A solid black wall appeared before the beam after a moment, stopping it completely.

Mallah stepped back toward the chopper's fuselage with Garfield struggling under one arm with a machine gun clasped in the other. The crack of bullets drove him under cover. Suddenly the trio of atlanteans charged forward, summoning electricity and water as they attacked.

With a crack the pink haired girl appeared before them and Tempest let out a scream of pain as his electrical attack was redirected back over him. Aquagirl summoned a wall of water between them as he stumbled to his knees and the pink haired girl snickered before waving her hands again. The strange pink energy that shot from her hands collided with the water and suddenly hurled it into the Atlanteans knocking them all to the ground.

Starfire shot into the attack, green bolts of energy exploding against the ground as she launched into her assault. She let out a shriek of surprise as Mammoth hurtled into the air and slammed into her side, hurtling her into the side of a hangar.

Robin winced and drew a pair of bird-a-rangs from his belt and hurled them toward the pink sorcerer. They exploded with a snap of her fingers and Robin snarled as he charged, pulling a pair of tonfa from his belt.

Flash rocketed forward and tried to grab Garfield from Mallah's iron grip. Unfortunately the giant ape merely smiled at him before backhanding the speedster. His startled yelp echoed over the landing area as he rolled across the ground.

"Okay... this isn't working!" Robin called out. "Cyborg, concentrate on that guy with the laser. Raven, shield us. Artemis..."

The twang of a bow drew his eyes and he blinked in surprise as an arrow slammed into the pink witch's back. Static electricity arced over her and she staggered for a moment before dropping to her knees.

"Keep doing that." Robin said.

"Roger."

Robin leapt out of cover and tossed a set of gas grenades, filling the landing zone with white smoke. A moment later the little guy with a laser roared upward from the gas, a jetpack clearly visible on his back. He began to rain laser fire down on them.

Then the helicopter lifted into the air as Mallah finished clambering aboard along with the Brain. As it lifted off the gadgeteer turned toward it and started swearing in a high pitched and rather annoying voice. "Crud... stupid snot-munching, bubble-brained buggers!"

Then a sonic blast from Cyborg knocked the gadgeteer from the sky, he dropped with a thump beside the pink haired girl who slowly raised her hands, a smirk on her face. "Now fellas... you don't want to get jinxed, do ya?"

Raven floated down before her as Robin darted toward the pair. A roar echoed from the Hangar and Robin spun just in time to see Mammoth tumbled through the air and land with a thump beside the two other remaining opponents.

Starfire stood in the middle of the hangar bay engulfed in brilliant green energy, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Okay... maybe this was a bad idea." The pink girl said. "Gizmo, you worthless idiot, couldn't you have brought down one of them?"

The little munchkin shook his head for a moment before glancing up at the team surrounding them. "Crud!"

Aqualad stalked forward. "Tell us where he's taking Garfield."

"How about… no?" The pink girl said.

"Jinx, we're caught... those snot-munching dirtbags aren't going to bust us out of prison." The one Robin guessed was Gizmo said.

"Watch them." Raven growled. "That girl isn't a fake... she's a real witch."

"How'd you guess black bird?" Jinx snorted before grabbing her two comrades. "Toodles!"

With a thunderclap of displaced air the three were gone. Robin swore. "How the..."

"Luck magic, some sort of probability based teleport I guess…" Raven said coolly.

"Damn it." Robin glanced up as the shimmering shape of the Bio-ship rocketed off after the helicopter. M'gann!

I'm not letting them have him! Miss Martian's mind answered immediately and Robin swore.

Garfield whimpered as the massive gorilla dropped him in a cage and slammed the door shut. With a crack the three others appeared in the cargo compartment, two of which looked confused and stunned, while the third looked rather bemused.

The mass of life support systems that was the Brain slowed to a stop beside Mallah and turned to the new arrivals. "Most impressive, Miss Jinx, I did not realize HIVE Academy possessed one of such skill."

"Oh, I don't advertise that one... makes escaping easy." Jinx observed as the other two slowly stood. "Plus, I want to get paid for this job."

Mallah growled as he walked over to a briefcase. With a toothy smile he withdrew a briefcase and held it out for the Brain to open with a robotic arm. As it opened Jinx's smile grew wider and the smaller munchkin began to drool. "Your payment is right here, petite fille. Once we have finished the experiment you can have it, non?"

"Shut it stupid frenchie, I should have asked for it in advance!" The munchkin yelled.

"Gizmo... don't be an idiot." Jinx snapped. "I take it that muscles is on a different pay roll?"

"Of course... let us say there is more than money in it for him." The Brain stated.

"They're going to come and save me... you overgrow dalek!" Garfield yelled as he twisted to glare at his captors. "You won't get away with this!"

"Oh, but we already have." The Brain observed as he rotated to face him. "You are a most interesting specimen, I believe. Mallah and I shall enjoy finding out just what the martian's blood is doing to your biochemistry."

"What?" Garfield said as he scooted back from the door of the cage. "What do you mean?"

"It changed your eye color little boy, do you think that's all it changed?" The Brain asked with a surprisingly bemused tone. "We'll begin as soon as we land."

Garfield! Miss Martian's voice shouted into his mind and Garfield froze.

Megan? He thought back. Are you... what's going on?

I'm coming... the Team is on the way still, just hold on.

He felt the chopper beginning to slow down and swallowed. I think we're going to land soon... what do they want with me? The tin can kept talking about my biochemistry... I'm human though.

The blood transfusion Garfield, the Brain thinks he can use that somehow.

There was a thump and Garfield swallowed as the loading ramp dropped again. Mallah grabbed hold of his cage and carried it down the ramp. Outside he saw two more of the Gorillas holding what looked to be some sort of energy weapons. Megan, the guards here have ray guns!

Apokoliptian weaponry? Damn it... Hold on Garfield.

I'm scared. Garfield admitted as the doors to a concrete bunker slowly began to grind open and the group headed for them.

Don't be... I'm here. A beam of laser energy suddenly lanced down and tore through the helicopter which exploded in a fireball. The shockwave knocked all but the Brain to the ground and Garfield winced as he bounced around the cage.

Then a figure dropped down before the burning wreck, her eyes glowing a dangerous green as she stood, her cape fluttering in the wind. "Leave Garfield alone, Brain!"

"Mademoiselle Martian, how delightful that you decided to join us," the Brain said as he slowly turned to face her. "Gizmo, infrared setting if you would."

Garfield's eyes widened, as a laser cannon rose from the tiny man's backpack and pointed toward Martian. "Eat heat, green snot-licker!"

M'gann screamed as an invisible beam struck her in the center of her chest. She slumped forward as Garfield watched her breathing suddenly heavy. "What is this?"

"I see my supposition was correct, an infrared laser is far more effective against your kind, is it not?" The Brain said coolly. "Heat and fire... the weakness of the Martian form. Perhaps the boy lacks that one, we shall find out."

Megan stumbled to her feet. "You will not touch him!" She snarled and screamed again as Gizmo's laser bathed her in infrared radiation. He cackled as she writhed on the ground for a moment, and then fell still.

"Again... let us be certain she has lost consciousness."

Gizmo nodded and fired again, when Megan didn't move the gadgeteer deactivated the weapon. "What now boss?"

"It seems we have two subjects then," the Brain stated simply. "Mammoth if you would... prep her in isolation cell two and activate the infrared barriers, we don't want her getting away. Mallah... take the boy to the experimentation room."

Garfield swallowed and pushed himself back in the cage. "Megan..."

"Oh I would not worry little boy, she's of much greater use in experiments alive... as are you," the Brain said.

Kaldur scowled as Robin lifted his gauntlet and stared at the local map. "Damn it, I got nothing Kal."

"We'll find them." Kaldur said.

Robin nodded as Cyborg glanced at them. "Hey, umm… Robin, doesn't the Justice League have sensors or something to track alien life signs?"

Dick's eyes went wide behind his mask and he swore before tapping his gauntlet, "Batman, its Robin."

After a moment the holographic image of the Dark Knight appeared over his wrist. "Batman here."

"We need you to pull the Watchtower's biosensor logs. Miss Martian was abducted by the Brain in the midst of the fighting and we haven't been able to reestablish contact." Dick said quickly.

"Understood."

After a few moments the display flickered to life once again. "Found her, sending the location to your display."

"Got it… looks like about fifteen miles north-west of here." Robin said.

"Good, assemble your squad and get her." He said. "My squad will be your backup."

Robin blinked in surprise and swallowed. "Kal?"

"This fight just proved that we need to divide the team, too many people involved... none of us could really control the situation..." Kaldur shook his head and sighed. "Go!"

Raven nodded, "I can teleport us close..."

Robin nodded. "Let's go get them back."

Garfield struggled against the massive hands of the gorilla, before he was slammed back into a chair and held in place by one massive palm. The gorilla quickly bound his wrists and ankles with the free hand before belting him in place and stepping back.

"Thank you Mallah." The brain stated flatly.

A black metal shape slowly lowered from the ceiling and Garfield saw red light pulse through it for a moment as the Brain hovered into place behind a control console. A set of mechanical limbs slid out of his steel shell and grabbed hold of the controls.

"My dear, I wonder... would you be kind enough to share a bit about yourself?" The Brain asked and Megan glared from at him from behind the infrared shields. "Non? Well... I guess we will truly have to experiment then."

A barrel slid out from the apparatus hanging from the ceiling and Garfield's eyes went wide. "What are you doing? Are you planning on killing me you tin can?"

"Non, at least... not yet." One of the manipulators tapped a control and Garfield screamed as his nerves burned with pain. He writhed against the restraints, and tears ran down from his eyes. After a moment, he gasped and slumped against the restraints as the pain ended.

"Hmm... it seems that was not the correct frequency." The Brain observed and Garfield glared at the villain. "Ohh... I take it that hurt then boy?"

"You bastard!" Megan snapped from where she sat.

"Shut up, you overgrown Dalek!" Garfield spat before another burst of energy overwhelmed him, his body shook as if struck by an electrical current and he screamed in pain.

"Garfield!" Megan yelled from her cage and screamed as she tried to charge through the energy field. Her whimpers echoed in his head as the pain ended and Garfield felt his head throb.

"You know Mademoiselle Martian, this would be much easier if you told us the radiation intensity required to activate your blood chemistry." The Brain stated. "Is making me search for it worth his pain, hmm?"

"Leave her alone." Garfield rasped. "Her friends will come, I'm sure... and then you'll regret what you've done to me, you tin can!"

"Perhaps..." The Brain said as he tapped the controls again. "But will you still be sane when that happens boy? I know pain can break the mind..."

Another wave of pain washed over him and he twisted against the restraints. Megan began to sob as Garfield voice turned hoarse. Then it ended again and Garfield slumped forward.

"Hmm... that's an interesting result." The Brain said as Garfield's eyes fluttered open. "Mallah, a blood sample if you would?"

He stared at his hands and swallowed. They were green, like Megan's were. He gasped for breath as the great ape stepped forward. A flash of pain came as the ape's huge hands touched his skin and suddenly Garfield felt his whole body beginning to twist and contort. It felt like a Charlie horse in every one of his muscles and a scream of pain tore from his lips for a second before it morphed into an inhuman howl.

Mallah backed away from him growling as the restraints snapped, one after another. Slowly Garfield looked down and his green eyes grew wide with shock.

He was a gorilla. A great big, green, gorilla. Sweet. A toothy smile slid across his face as he stared at Mallah.

"Oh dear... perhaps I should have taken the sample." The Brain observed. "Quick Mallah, restrain him!"

Garfield snarled and slammed a fist into the side of Megan's cage. The infrared field flickered and went out as Mallah roared and charged toward him.

"I don't think so." Megan said as she grabbed a table telekinetically and hurled it into Mallah.

Jinx sat atop the wall filing her nails in boredom as the Gorillas that patrolled the grounds went about their business. Beside her Gizmo was examining an Apokoliptian plasma rifle he'd discovered in the base's armory while Mammoth stupidly stared out into the surrounding wilderness.

A boom came from the central building and Jinx swore as she dropped her nail file. "Oh what now..."

She turned to the billowing smoke and choked as a massive black gorilla topped with a beret was tossed from the building and rolled across the ground. A howl came from it's mouth and the gorilla's lifted their rifles to the threat. Jinx smiled and readied herself. "An escape attempt, what fun... Gizmo! Get ready!"

"Crud-munchers!" The irritating little gnome snarled before spinning to face the confrontation and fumbling with the rifle.

Then a brilliant green bolt of energy flew through the air and caught the little man's rifle. It exploded in his hands and tossed him back against the wall. He crumpled to the ground just as Jinx spun toward the new threat.

A figure clad in a hoodie floated before her, two eyes glowing from beneath the cowl. "Hello witch."

"Not good." Jinx said before a section of the wall was engulfed in darkness and hurtled toward her. She dove out of the way and snapped her fingers sending a wave of bad luck toward the figure.

"Jinxes will only take you so far..." The figure said.

A volley of green bolts rained down over the courtyard, engulfing the area in smoke and flames. Then a red, gold, and black blur dropped down onto the wall and drew a pair of tonfa.

Jinx swore. "Curses!"

"Give it up!" Robin growled as he approached.

"Eh... I already got my paycheck, no reason to stick around." She said before snapping her fingers and disappearing with a crack.

"That was easy." Raven said as she turned toward Gizmo just as the monstrous hulking figure of Mammoth roared and leapt toward them.

"Cyborg!" Robin yelled as he dove out of the way and rolled across the ground. With a whoop Cyborg leapt into the fray and grabbed Mammoth's fists and pushed him of the wall.

"Booyah!" He called as Mammoth slammed into the ground. Then he dove to the ground as the apes opened fire sending plasma bolts and energy beams up toward them.

A gold blur shot past them and Wally dropped into the courtyard just as a volley of arrows rained down at the apes. Concussive blasts knocked out some while Wally shot around the courtyard, disarming and knocking the apes out cold with lightning fast strikes.

After a moment the last of the ape guards toppled to the ground, knocked out. Then Wally was caught off guard by Mammoth slamming into his side and knocking him into a wall.

Robin swore as he ran toward his friend and pulled a tazer from his belt. As Mammoth stood and glared down at Wally's prone form, he fired. Twenty thousand volts roared into the massive figure and he roared in pain before toppling back, knocked out.

"Wally?" Robin yelled as he scrambled toward his friend. "Are you alright?"

"Uh... I'm okay." He stared up at him and grimaced. "Why are there three of you?"

"Damn it, why can't you keep your wits about you!" Artemis growled as she ran up to him. "You worry me so much sometimes!"

"But you love me!" Wally muttered.

Artemis snorted.

Starfire dropped from the sky and smiled at them. "Perimeter secure!" She said brightly and Robin couldn't help but smile at her eagerness.

"Great job Star... Let's go pick up Garfield and Megan." Robin said as he turned toward the hole in the wall just as Mallah scrambled inside.

Garfield howled with rage as the Brain fired an energy blast from his shell that tossed Megan into a wall. Her eyes flared a bright green, and then she charged at him.

A glowing red force field materialized around her and she staggered as she struck the wall. A snarl slipped across her face as she slammed into the walls.

"I wouldn't bother... You must thank Rocket for supplying her technology's specifications to the League." The Brain said.

Garfield charged the Brain and caught hold of his casing. He lifted it up over his head and suddenly electricity burst from the exoskeleton and enveloped him. He howled in agony as Mallah burst into the door.

The intelligent gorilla caught the Brain as Garfield dropped him and staggered back. Side compartments slid open and a massive array of devices slid out. The lights flickered and died, then as they flickered back to life, the two of them were gone.

"Damn! Did he just leave?" A familiar voice said from the hole in the wall. Garfield looked toward the source and harrumphed as Megan stood.

Kid Flash, Robin, Artemis, and three others he didn't recognize stepped inside and stared at him. Flash arched an eyebrow. "Umm... what's with the monkey?"

"Garfield..." Megan said as she rushed to his side and stared up at him, her eyes wide. "Garfield?"

He nodded.

"Focus on what it was like being human... focus on that for me." She said quickly.

He swallowed and closed his eyes, he remembered what he felt like as a normal kid, and he grunted as a wave of pain swept his body. Gasps echoed around him as he opened his eyes and swallowed.

"Umm... Garfield turned into a Martian?" Kid Flash asked and then suddenly put a hand over Artemis's eyes.

Robin face palmed, the pale girl turned away flushing brightly, and the bronze skinned girl cocked her head. "So... that is what the male looks like on this planet?"

Garfield looked down and blushed brightly as he realized, he wasn't wearing any clothes. Megan began laughing and he felt his cheeks flush. "Umm... help?"

Mount Justice, Happy Harbor

January 14th 2011, 00:05 EST

Kaldur let out a sigh as the Bioship touched down in the hangar bay. As the boarding ramp extended he glanced at Garfield and shook his head. After all the kid had gone through already, to be taken and experimented upon by the Brain had to be one of the most horrific experiences of his life.

Still the young boy had sat shivering in the simple set of clothes that Zatanna had managed to conjury up for him, and it had apparently taken a bit of coaxing from Megan to get him to say a word to his rescuers.

He's still embarassed. Megan said through the mind link and Raven nodded before pulling down her hood and letting out a small sigh.

He's not much older than me... which doesn't help. She thought back before the whole team began to unload. As the last of the group descended the ship Robin stopped Kaldur and chewed his lip for a moment. "So... how are we going to handle this two team thing..."

Kaldur smirked. "What do you mean?"

"Well... we have one bio-ship, and Conner's bike, but that's about it unless you want to bum a ride from the Justice League or Zeta tube as close as we can when something happens." Robin said.

"You have an excellent point." Kaldur said.

"So... I was thinking about asking Batman and any of the team members with engineering experience to work on designing a second ship for us to use." Robin said as he turned toward them. "Something roughly as capable as Miss Martian's bioship anyway."

"Well, that sounds like quit a project. You really think Batman has the resources to build us a spaceship?"

Robin flinched and gave him a rather bemused smile. "Well... umm... he has contacts that can anyway."

Kaldur nodded. "That leaves one more thing to consider..."

Robin watched him for a long moment. "And that is?"

"Garfield... what do we do with him?" Kaldur asked. "Is this change the Brain caused permament?"

"If it is..." Robin smirked. "We train him."

"Are you sure, he's only what... nine?"

Robin nodded. "So was I when I put on the suit."

"Alright Garfield... let's see what the scan says first." Megan said as he watched the now green skinned boy sitting atop the bed.

He nodded as Megan examined the readouts and swallowed. "Well... it looks like your cells have... mutated and absorbed a bit of my genetic code."

Garfield's eyes went wide. "So... so I'm half Martian now?"

"Sort of... from the sequences your body adopted, it looks like at least some of my shape shifting ability has been transferred over to you. I don't know if you can do actual density shifting but... you can do some things obviously." She turned to him and focused. "Do you want to try it?"

"Yes please!" Garfield said eagerly.

Alright, let's keep this pretty simple... you love animal's right, maybe you can adopt some of their features and— Megan gasped.

The boy's hands grew slightly longer and green fur began to cover the back side of his hand. His cheeks sprouted thick equally green fur and his feet burst through the shoes he wore revealing equally furry feet. A tail sprouted from his pants and curled over his head twitching.

"Megan?" Garfield asked and glanced over his shoulder as he followed her gaze. A laugh came from his lips as he spied the monkey tail. "Awesome! Look at this! I've got a tail Megan!"

"You look like a cross between a hobbit and a monkey." A cool voice came from the doorway and the two of them glanced over to see Raven in her grey hoodie clasping a mug of tea in her hands. "Just don't destroy your clothes again, that was more than I ever wanted to see."

Garfield flushed, his cheeks turning dark green as Megan giggled through the mindlink. After getting ahold of herself she grabbed his hand and smiled. Don't worry about the clothes, I'll show you how to make your own when shifting.

Make my own? That means... His eyes went as large as saucers and Megan nodded at him. He coughed and looked away as another wave of embarrassment ran through him.

Raven glared at Megan. "So... what did you say?"

"I told him, that I'd teach him how to make clothes when shifting." Megan said. "I think he figured out what that meant for my current outfit."

"Oh, you mean that your clothes are technically part of your body." Raven said. "I figured that's how it had to work with you changing size and appearance all the time."

"She's naked, all the time!" Garfield said.

"So are animals, I don't see them getting embarrassed about it." Raven said. "So... is he going to be able to do this for a long time then?"

"It changed his genes. He's incorporated part of my DNA into his own. So, I'd say it's permanent." Megan said.

"Wait... Megan, does that make us... like siblings?" Garfield suddenly asked.

Megan smiled at him. "I suppose so."

"I..." He started hyperventilating and a pair of tears ran from his eyes. "I have a family still?"

Megan's eyes widened. "Oh Garfield..." She pulled the nine year old into a hug and sighed. She ran her hand through his hair and closed her eyes. Yes... you do.

"Thank you..." He whispered in her ear as Raven stepped out to give them a bit of privacy.

"The d'aww factor is killing me." She said to herself as she headed to the kitchen looking for something to eat and trying to ignore the emotional waves coming from the two of them.

Undisclosed Location

January 14th 2011, 07:10 GMT

Ravager stepped out of the shattered hangar and glanced around at the demolished remains of the base. He scowled to himself. "Quite the light show..."

His phone rang and his scowl deepened before he pulled it out and flipped it open. "Wilson here."

A low chuckle came through the line and he froze. "It's been a while since we talked. You still trying to live up to your old man's legend?"

"Crock... or should I say, Sportsmaster." Ravager answered. "What do you want?"

"I've heard from the old Brain in the jar that you saw the Justice League's little apprentice club in action." Sportsmaster answered through the phone. "I thought you might be willing to trade notes on them, as apparently the old Brain didn't recognize some of the bunch that came after you."

"What's in it for me?" He asked.

"Just a pile of cool hard cash." Sportsmaster said.

Ravager smiled. "I'm in... when and where?"