Alpha Male

Mount Justice, 6:34am, September 23rd, 2010:

P.O.V Change: Matthew Spectre

The cave was being repaired. Manhunter and Captain Atom were fixing the power charges. Jon Stewart was helping Shazam repair the zeta generator. I was in the boiler room, fueling small pieces Hellfire into the furnaces. I come up to the hanger and see everyone sitting at the table, I notice Blake leaning against the wall. I approach him as I gesture to the table. He nods and follows me. We sit at the table as everyone looks downcast. Artemis sits across from Blake as she looks at him, he stares back with narrowed eyes. He nudges me and signs. "Why is she looking at me?" He asks as I chuckle. "Must like you." I say as both of them narrow their eyes at me. Green Arrow walks over an puts down a bowl of pretzels. "Thanks, but no thanks." Wally says dejected. "Yeah, what we want are answers. About Red Tornado and his siblings." Robin follows up. "Exactly." Wally says as Green Arrow takes the bowl and begins to walk away but Wally grabs it. "Leave the bowl." He says as he eats a pretzel. I look over and see Kaldur speaking to Batman, I notice Connor staring as well. I sense great anger as Connor marches forward. "Oh boy." I say as I get up. Everyone follows after me. "You knew?!" Connor shouts as he pushes Kaldur up against the wall. "That android and his manic family nearly killed M'gann!" He shouts as M'gann flies over to him. "Connor, what are you doing?" She asks. "Kaldur knew that we had a traitor on the team and said nothing!" Connor shouts as I march over and pull him off. "You need to back off." I say as I push him away.

"Wait. Matt? Did you know about this?" Robin asks as everyone looks at me. "I was in Taipei. Kaldur had told me that he was told about the possibility of a mole. The source is unreliable and we don't believe there to be one." I say as Kaldur follows up. "But we couldn't risk the possibility. I sought to protect the team." He says as Artemis speaks up. "Protect us from...what. That one of us is a mole? That knowledge could have saved our lives when Tornado attacked." She says as Connor walks over to M'gann. "You almost died...and they didn't care enough to try and prevent it." Connor says as he clenches a fist and walks over to us. Blake holds him back, Connor looks back in surprise as Blake shakes his head, no. "Enough." Batman says as he glares at everyone. We all calm down but the tension is still very high. "With Red Tornado missing. The team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Shazam has agreed to take the first shift." He says as Shazam walks up to us. "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys." He says cheerfully. I hear Connor says something to Kaldur. "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna-." He doesn't finish as Batman interrupts the conversation. "Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. Which makes him the League's responsibility. You will leave him to us." He says that last part threateningly and with his signature glare.

"I have another assignment for this team." He continues as a hologram popa up of a newspaper. 'Guerilla Gorilla'? "Gotham mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla?" Wally says questioningly. "Batman, please! Tell me that you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase." Robin says as Batman glares at him. "I never joke about the mission." He says as Robin looks away. "I've checked the sources. Studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out. Ghost Rider will serve as your second in command. Black Bolt." Batman says as everyone turns to Blake who stands unemotionlessly. "You have a choice...we can send back home...or you can join this mission." Batman asks as Blake looks at me. I shrug my shoulders, not up to me. Blake nods and walks over to join us. Looks like we have a new team member. "Good choice. Your sister will be notified of your decision but for now. I have something for you. Ghost Rider requested it." He says as Manhunter passes a case over to Blake who raises an eyebrow. Blake opens the case and lifts a cowl, it's black with silver markings and a metal pitchfork prong on the forehead. Blake smiles as he nods his head in thanks.

As we head to the hanger. Wally shoulder checks kaldur before scoffing at him. "Your team?" He says sarcastically as I feel Kaldur's sadness at the turn of events. I rest my hand on his shoulder. "Come on. We got a job to do." I say as he nods. We arrive at the hanger, we wait for Blake who is getting changed into his new gear. We hear someone approaching as Batman and Blake step into the light. Blake has his new gear on and I got to say, Batman has out done himself. The black suit has padding and Kevlar armour similar to Batman's own suit but the design is vastly different. Silver markings in the shape of a 'V' with silver lightning as the shape. Small wings are connected from his back to his triceps, Batman deemed it for smoother flight. The metal prong stands proud above his eyes. All in all, he looks like a hero but also something that you wouldn't want to mess with. And that's without knowing his abilities. (1)

"Damn, that's terrifying." Shazam says as I smirk. You have no idea. I walk up to him. "Looking good." I say as I clasp his hand in a handshake. He smiles and signs to me. "It's surprisingly comfortable." I laugh. "Can't imagine, come on. Let's get you sorted into he Bio-ship." I say as he looks confused. "It's Miss Martian's ship which is alive so technically, you are being eaten right now." I say as his eyes widen. "Don't listen to him, he makes jokes whenever we get here." M'gann says to Blake who stare back at her. He signs something as M'gann looks confused. "Jokes are not something that I'm used too. Laughing is not something that I can do." I pat him on the back. "Sorry about that." I say but he waves me off. "I'm sorry, I forgot, you don't speak. I'm sorry." M'gann says but Blake just smiles and pats her on her shoulder. He walks into the bio ship and looks around. He turns back before giving a double thumbs up.

M'gann enters the ship, as does Artemis who gives me a glaring look. I hear someone coming and see Shazam entering the hanger. "You're coming with?" Robin asks him. "Sure. We'll have a blast." Shazam says as he passes me. "Translation: he blames us from Red fiasco, he doesn't trust us." Robin says as Wally scoffs and turns back to Kaldur and myself. "It's one big club." He says angrily. The both of them walk into the bio ship as I look back at Kaldur. "They'll come around... eventually." U say as I enter the ship.

Northern India: 9:36pm September 23rd, 2010

The bio ship flies in camouflage mode as we enter India. The ships belly opens up as Robin, and Artemis wire down to the ground, Blake floats down after them. The ship lowers as the back hatch opens. I step out and reach my senses out. "All clear." I say as Kaldur switches to his his stealth tech. "Switch to stealth. And we'll review mission parameters." He says as M'gann changes to her black uniform, Wally presses his insignia, turning his yellow suit black. "Parameters? We don't need stinking parameters." He says angrily as Robin follows up. "It's recon. We know what to do." He says as both of them walk away. "Robin, Kid." I call out to them. Robin turns sharply back to me. "You kept secrets from us. Just like the League. We made this team because of those secrets." Robin says as Wally follows up. "Or did you two forget that, like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Wally asks sarcastically as both of them bolt into the jungle.

I stare as they leave. This is really starting to get annoying. I knew that they wouldn't like it but I didn't think that it would make them forget about the mission. We need to leave our personal opinions behind and focus on the here and now. But apparently that's too much for some people. "Come on, I'll keep you safe." Connor says but M'gann pulls away from him and stares angrily at him. M'gann looks away. "I...just want to protect you." He says awkwardly. "Oh, just like Matt and Aqualad protected us? I'm not sure your protection or your patronizing is good for our health." Artemis says as she points her bow into Connor's chest. Both her and M'gann walk off. "Why didn't you stop them? You're supposed to be in charge!" Connor shouts at us. "By the way everyone is acting...would they or you have listened?" I say sarcastically as Connor just leaps away. "Um, did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?" Shazam says as Kaldur sighs. "Rider...you and Black Bolt scout out those mountains. See if you can find any trace of the Gorilla." Kaldur says as I nod. Black Bolt lifts me by my arms as he flies us up to the mountain.

We land as I sense any presence and it's just animals, nothing else. I feel a tap as I turn to Blake. He points and I see footprints in the dirt. "Seems we're close." I say as we search around the mountain peak. After a while, I ask Blake a question that has been nagging me. "Why did you defend me and Kaldur. It's not something that concerned you but you intervened. Why?" I ask him as he signs. "You showed me that heroes defend everyone. While you and Aqualad did something that the team didn't like, you didn't deserve to have all that hate and blame put on you. I haven't know you for very long but you have showed to be honorable, you wouldn't have done what you did if you didn't have a good reason." I nod my head on thanks. "I appreciate your support. And your right. I wouldn't have done without a reason. The possibility of a mole was something that I took with a grain of salt but I couldn't ignore the likelihood...no matter how much I hated it. Secrets are something that isn't new to me, but to keep this from the team. It's not something that I enjoyed doing but I felt it necessary. Kaldur felt the same but he felt worse. He has known Robin and Kid for years, to keep secrets from them, especially after what the league kept from them. I can't imagine the hardship that Kaldur felt." I say. "You care about your teammates. It's that mentality that made you choose this path. Your team is hurt because they don't understand. You and Aqualad need to explain to them, the why, the how, and the who. Only than can they move past this animosity." I nod my head at his distinction. "I will...thank you." I say as he nods.

We hear a snap of a twig as we turn to the jungle. We watch as the leaves rustle. A screech sounds as Blake is tacked by a large monkey. Another pops out as I catch and throw it away. Another pops out, followed by another, and another. I battered them away as Blake flies up and bashes the monkey down to the ground. He flies in and grabs tow by the trees before swinging them into a rock. I grab one monkey and twirl him around into another as both go over the edge. More keep on coming. Blake flies above and focuses his electron beam into the metal prong. Batman designed to so Blake could focus the amount strength into the beam. The range can be from a simple stun to the blast of an anti tank ordinance. Blake shoots the beam at the monkeys who dodge and avoid. A monkey jumps at me a so catch it. He tries to claw me as I notice the harden skin and the cracked skin. Kobra Venom. I headbutt the monkey and drove his head into the rock face before throwing him away. The monkeys surround us, I notice collars on their necks. "Remove the collars." I say to Blake who nods. He shoots in blazing speed and grabs a monkey before pulling the collar off. The monkey screeches and runs back into the jungle. Seeing the success, I bolt ahead and break the collars of any monkey who attacks. Blake focuses his beam and cuts the collars off three monkeys simultaneously. The last monkey leaps at me which I catch and slam into the ground, I rip his collar off as he backs away in fear. He runs off into the jungle.

I feel a probing in my head as I see Blake's holding his head in pain. "Link established." I hear M'gann say as Blake looks around. "What the hell? What was that? Am I speaking? I'm speaking." Blake says in shock as he covers his mouth. "It's Miss Martian's telepathic link, Black Bolt. Nothing to worry about." Kaldur says as Blake calms down. "This is so weird. I haven't heard my voice unhindered in a long time." Blake says as I hear Artemis speak. "Question. Should we still take orders from Aqualad and should we really be following them." She says. "Listen, please!" Kaldur says with a pleading tone. "Oh good, Aqualad's voice in my head, I've so missed that." Wally says arrogantly as I groan. "We don't have time for this." I say. "Oh and Matt. We were just attacked by Giant killer vultures. Course though, since you think we're moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves." Robin says as I growl in frustration. "If he did. He wouldn't tell you." Artemis follows up. "This bickering is getting out of hand. We should focus on the mission." Blake says, trying to get the team to focus on the mission and not what has happened."Hey, newbie. This is our conversation, butt out of it." I see Blake narrows his eyes in anger at the insult.

"Superboy. Are you online or are you just pouting?" M'gann asks him. "Busy, call back later." Connor replies as myself and Blake move away from our area. "What gets me is how nonchalant they both are about not telling us." Wally says as I feel my anger spike. "They should be chalant. Way chalant. Extremely chalant." Robin follows up as Artemis follows him. "How can we be a team if the both of them don't trust us with their secrets?" M'gann puts her two cents in. "Or if Connor doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves?" Wally now talks again. "Did they really think that you or I could be the mole?" My anger is reaching a new level as I feel Zarathos getting pissed off. "Trust is a two way street." Artemis says as that finally ticks me and Zarathos off. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Zarathos screams as everyone shuts up. "This arguing is getting us nowhere! What are you, fucking children? We kept the mole a secret because it was the best course of action. If you all are too arrogant or stupid to realise that then do us a favor and fuck off. You are not wanted nor are you needed. If you can't see past our mistake and get over it than leave!" I shout as everyone goes silent. Matt is right. "This is pointless. Shazam has been captured and we must work as a team to save him." Kaldur growls out as Wally scoffs. "Under you two's leadership, I think-." Kaldur interrupts him with anger. "This is not up for debate! You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over, if you wish to select a new leader, I'll happily step down. But until that time, I am in command here." He growls out as silence is heard over the link. "And that is why he is the leader, because the rest of you are idiots." Zarathos says over the link as Blake looks at me. "Yeah, he's here's too." I say to him for which he smiles, we continue our trek.

We meet up with everyone as we spot an old bunker. "I'll fly over." Blake thinks as Wally grabs his arm. "There's a force field. It is stamped like a dome over the whole compound." Blake stares down at him as Wally let's go of his arm. "The pylons are insulated. But one good shock could cause a momentary gap." Robin says as Artemis follows up. I see a target." Kaldur then speaks up. "Get ready to hit it. The rest of you, get ready." Kaldur runs to the nodes of the dome and shocks his water bearers against it. He struggles but he is able to breach a hole. "Now!" Wally says as Artemis fires her arrow through the hole and it hits the power pad on the wall. The pylons shut down as we rush down to him. Blake taps my shoulder and points up. I follow his hand and see some the same species of monkey that we fought earlier. One of them screeches loudly as alarms blare. The monkeys jump down and attack us. I batter them and throw them off. "Remove the collars." Kaldur says as Robin struggles with one. "Sounds easy when he does it." He says as I whip a chain at monkey and pull him to me. I grab the collar and tear it off as the monkey runs off. Soo enough, all the monkeys are freed as the compound doors open, revealing a massive gorilla with a Minigun. M'gann tries to sneak past but the gorilla grabs her and slam her to the ground. "Get your stinking paws off her, you damn dirty ape." Wally says as he charges the gorilla, he simply bounces right off. Blake floats above and stares at the gorilla with indifference. Blake charges his electron beam, he fires it as the gorilla is hit, the blast from the beam, cracks the stone walls as the gorilla is sent flying down the hallway.

We rush in as the gorilla gets up and fires the Minigun. I stand in front of everyone as I form a Hellfire shield which melts the bullets into ash. The gun jams as the gorilla tries to fix it. M'gann levitates him as Blake shoots forward, the force of the impact breaks the wall, revealing a Kobra Venom tiger, Shazam strapped to a table and...a robot with a brain? "It's the Brain!" Wally says in surprise. "Uhh, I can see it's a brain." Artemis says. "Not 'a' brain, The Brain." The Brain moves as it speaks with a French accent. "In the flesh, so to speak. Mallah..." He says as the gorilla, Mallah presses a button. Pylons shoot up and force us to our knees. Only Blake is standing tall, the pylons emit a electron wave. He can manipulate it. "Who are you?" The Brain asks as Blake walks out of the field. M'gann telekinetically takes the device from Mallah's hand before shifting her eyes to match his. The device beeps as the pylons are disabled. A loud boom is heard as the opposite wall breaks, revealing Connor and a big white wolf. The wolf charges the gorilla who avoids it. Robin swings for a double kick but Mallah moves out the way. I level a chain covered punch to his skull as he reels back. Connor leaps and punches his across the face before sweeping his leg. Blake, who has been hovering speeds down into Mallah's chest, creating a crater in the ground from the force of the impact. Mallah recovers as he beats Blake off. Artemis shoots an arrow as Robin throws his birdarang. Kaldur is going toe to heel with he Brain who is firing lasers at him. The Brain and Mallah join together as M'gann and Blake soar above us. Artemis point her bow, while Robin has both his hands filled with birdarangs. Kaldur had his water bearers sert to a mace and a sword. I stand with my eyes glowing with Hellfire. I notice Kaldur feeling Shazam. "Thanks, from one good deed to another." Shazam says as he breaks the collar of the tiger. Brain and Mallah are surrounded on all sides as Connor approaches with the white wolf. Mallah roars as Connor smirks. "Try it, I hate monkeys." He says but the Brain catches the Gorilla's attention "No Mallah. This will not be our Waterloo." The Brain says as he begins transforming. "Au revoir, mes amis." The Brain says. "Get down!" Wally shouts as Blake flies over to cover Artemis as I cover Robin. Suddenly all the lights turn off, leaving us in pitch blackness. After a second, the lights turn back on and Brain and Mallah are no where to be seen. "Wait...that big weapon thing was...a light switch?" Wally says as Blake floats back down next to him. Blake rests his hand on Wally's shoulder before shrugging.

We leave the compound as I turn back to it. "The Brain could come back to this place." I say. "And we'll be there to defeat him again." Shazam says as I shake my head. "This compound can be defended. The Brain will learn from his mistake...Black Bolt." I call out as Blake walks up beside me. "Care to do the honours?" I say as he smiles and stands in front of the compound. I cover my ears as everyone else does as well. Connor covers the wolf's ears as M'gann forms another set of hands to cover his and hers.

"Destroy."

I barely hear what he said but the echoing sonic wave blasts into the stone building which absolutely destroys it, the sonic wave makes it seem like a small isolated earthquake hit the compound. Barely anything is left standing. Blake turns to us and smiles at his handy work.

We walk back to the Bio-ship. "What are you grinning about?" I hear Artemis say to Wally. "One word: souvenir." He says as he puts Mallah's beret on his hand. "Two words: gorilla lice." Artemis retorts back as Wally shakes the hat off. Kaldur breaks the collar off a monkey that was hanging around the ship. "That's the last of the collars?" Shazam says as he kneels down to the tigers level, Said tiger just growls in responds. "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" Shazam continues as the tiger chuffs, apparently he agrees. "Good, I'll be back for a visit, I promise." Shazam says as the tiger runs off. "Think I'll call him Mr Tawny." He says as I laugh. "Never change...it's too funny." I say as he looks confused. I look over and see the white wolf stay here. Guess Connor's got a new pet. Kaldur walks up to the bio ship as Robin intercepts him. "Look, I need to know. Why did you keep the mole intel to yourselves?" Robin asks to me and Kaldur as everyone gathers around. "The source of the tip was Sportsmaster." Kaldur reveals as I feel Artemis high anger and fear. "What? You can't trust him!" She says as I speak up. "We don't. But he had intel that was only told to a select few...intel like Bialya." I say as everyone's eyes widen. "We didn't think there was a mole, we thought that he was seeking to create division with the team with false information." Kaldur follows up as Robin realises something. "And given how this mission went, he almost succeeded. But you both had to consider that it might be true." He says as Kaldur nods. "As leader I did. I confided in Matt because he knew of the tip, he helped me with my decision. Nothing Matt did was his doing that wasn't my choice. I wanted to tell you but I didn't wish to alert the traitor, if there was one." He says as Robin sighs. "Hate to say it...makes sense." He says as I scoff. "Could have told you. Wait, we did." I say with no real venom. "I am still prepared to step down. If you feel that it's necessary, I will revoke my tenure as leader." He says as Wally speaks up. "All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader?" He says as my arm shoots straight up. M'gann, Artemis and Connor lifted their arms after. Robin soon followed. We stare at Black Bolt who has his arms down. He smiles before raising his hand as well. "Well it's unanimous." Shazam says as he shakes Kaldur's hand. "Well, see ya later." He says as I raise an eyebrow. "You don't want to come back with us?" I ask as he shakes his head. "Nah, not to be rude but I have somethings that I remembered to do. I got to fly. See y'all later." He says as he flies away. We all enter the Bio-ship. "So... Black Bolt. How was your first mission?" Robin's asks Blake who smiles and signs. I translate for him. "It was entertaining...I look forward to the future." I say, thanking Batman for the sign language lessons. "Well that's good. And don't worry...things only ever get better with us." He says as I laugh. "Ain't that the truth."

A.N: