We have gotten to the Team! I hope this chapter isn't too much of a disappointment. Also, my first review pointed out that I haven't given my readers a timeline for when this is taking place in the Young Justice series. Thanks for pointing that out, and your review made my day. Anyway, I don't want to rewrite the episodes and just add my character in, but right now the story is in between Failsafe and Misplaced. I'm going to be talking about what happens in Misplaced, so that is where the story is staying until then. Enjoy the chapter, and please, PLEASE review!
Mallory was ready and waiting at 9:00 the next morning. She tried to distract herself with chores and catching up with her mom, but her thoughts were on the team. The day dragged on slowly. Finally, on the stroke of 2, there was a knock on the door. Darrin opened it and came face to face with a tall, broad man with glasses and a blue suit. Mallory let out a disappointed sigh.
"Hi, my name is Clark Kent. Is your daughter here?" the man asked.
Mallory looked up. studying his face closely. She knew him from somewhere. He made eye contact with her and smiled. "Hey, Torch."
"Superman?" she asked quietly. He nodded. Mallory grinned and quickly said goodbye to her parents and walked back up the driveway with Clark.
"Is that really your name?" she asked as they walked.
"Yep. I'm a reporter at the Daily Planet," he replied. She'd heard the name before, but she had never thought twice about it.
"Why are you telling me? Does the whole team know?" she asked.
"No, actually no one on the team knows," he said, even though Robin definitely knew and Kid Flash probably did, too. Flash wasn't too good at keeping secrets.
"Then why tell me?"
He smiled. "Well, we've known each other a long time, and I just found out your secret identity, so I figured it was only fair that I tell you mine. But don't tell Batman that I told you. He wouldn't approve."
"All right," she agreed.
They walked until they came to a phone booth that was out of order. Mallory looked at Clark questioningly as he pulled open the door and motioned her in.
"Trust me," he said. She walked in.
"Ok?"
"Press 01," he instructed. She pressed the buttons, and a screen of light scanned her.
"Not recognized," a female automated voice announced.
"Superman, 01, authorize entry, Torch, B08," Clark told the machine. The scanner came on again. "Recognized, Torch, B08."
A flash of light came, there was a strange sensation of falling, then she stumbled into a large room with a machine on the ceiling overlooking a pale circle on the floor.
"Recognized, Superman, 01," the computer lady announced, and Superman materialized beside her. He looked around. "Good, no one's here yet," he said, then explained, "The team went out on a little field trip. They'll be back soon, though."
He led her to a room that had a sliding glass door, a fountain, some chairs, and a couch.
"You can get out of your civies in here," he told her. He'd already gotten rid of his suit somehow and stood in his costume motioning her into the room.
Mallory quickly pulled off her street clothes, revealing her costume underneath. She stashed her clothes on a shelf and walked out.
"They're here," Superman told her. Mallory took a breath, her stomach suddenly knotting up. She didn't know why, but the thought of meeting Robin, maybe even Kid Flash and Speedy, was terrifying. Maybe it was because of their experience, or maybe it was their fame, she wasn't sure.
She followed Superman back down the hall into the large, open room. Batman was there, and she recognized three verteran sidekicks immediately. Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad. No Speedy.
She was shocked to see the other boy standing to the side of the group talking quietly with a red-headed girl with green skin wearing Martian Manhunter's insignia. He was tall and muscular with black hair and an untrusting air, but that wasn't what had caught her attention.
There, on the chest of his black T-shirt, was a red S identical to Superman's.
"Team, I'd like you to meet your newest member," Batman said in his usual monotone.
The group of teens exchanged looks and seemed to unconsciously move closer together. Superman started walking over to the group, and Mallory followed closely, trying to look confident.
"This is To-" Superman started, but Mallory interrupted, "Inferno. Hi."
Superman gave her a look that she didn't try to decipher.
"Hi, welcome to the team," Robin said with a smile that she couldn't help but return. He was smaller than she'd expected.
"I'm Miss Martian, but you can call me M'gann," the green girl said with bubbling enthusiasm. Mallory nodded a greeting to her. A blonde girl with a green costume and a bow and quiver stepped forward.
"I'm Artemis, that's W- I mean Kid Flash, Aqualad, Robin, and Superboy."
"Well, hi," Mallory said, making eye contact with each of them.
"All right, now that the meet-and -greet is over, you need to be briefed for your next mission," Batman said gruffly. The team gathered around a holographic screen.
"This is the Lexcorp base that you will be investigating," Batman said, pointing to the location on the holographic map. It zoomed in, showing a detailed map of the grounds. Guards were laid over the buildings and land so thick a gnat couldn't get through, not to mention the heat and motion sensors, cameras, and more booby traps than Mallory could count set out through the grounds. Mallory noticed Robin wince as he studied the map. "How do we get in?" he asked.
Batman's gaze fell to Mallory, and she felt the rest of the team look at her too. "That's where she comes in," Batman explained.
Superboy let out a grunt. "I can give enough cover," he said firmly. Batman glared at him, and Mallory felt her own anger rise. She understood that she was new, but she could fight her own battles.
"She's the logical choice for this," Batman told Superboy calmly. "She has certain‒abilities that you don't have. She can provide a better cover for a longer period of time and with less suspicion."
Superboy shot Mallory a glare that she returned, her anger starting to simmer under the surface. What could she possibly have done to get this guy mad at her already?
"Enough," Batman said, and they both looked up. "You need to start preparing for the mission."
Aqualad herded the team out the room.
"Tor‒uh, Inferno, wait," Superman said, and Mallory walked over to him. "You need to get another costume," he said.
"Why? I just got this one," she asked.
"You need something that will blend in with the night better," he told her, and she followed him to a room with a large computer in it, similar to the fabricator that Batman had brought her to. Minutes later, he attached a small chip to the triangle on her belt.
"Ok, push here," he told her, pointing to the center of the triangle. She touched the spot, and her costume went from being orange with black trim to black with dark red trim. She looked down at the red boots.
"Is this really going to blend in?" she asked skeptically.
"It's better than orange," Superman replied. Mallory twisted a lock of hair around her finger pointedly.
"You're not the only red-head on the team. The hair will be fine," he said with a chuckle.
They walked out together, falling into step out of habit. Artemis walked over to them from the group of teens. Mallory could feel Superboy glaring at her from across the room.
"We're about to leave," the blonde told her. She noticed Superboy and turned back to Mallory. "Don't worry about him," she said, "He's like that with everyone at first. He has some trust issues."
Mallory chuckled. "Really? I hadn't noticed." She walked back to the group of teens.
"Hey, Inferno, you ready to go?" Kid Flash asked, and Mallory smiled and nodded. She followed the team to a hanger and watched in confusion as they gathered around a large, slightly oval red ball. Miss Martian held out a hand and the ball morphed into a plane. A door opened and Mallory followed the group into it. Seats appeared from the floor, and when she sat in one, she was strapped in with some weird, slightly squishy material.
The plane took off and she watched as the ground rushed below them. She wasn't feeling any of her usual plane anxieties.
When they reached a good altitude, Aqualad turned in his seat. "I am sorry that we did not get to talk more at the cave," he said. "How long have you been a hero?"
"A few years," she answered tentatively.
"It is fine. I myself have only been in league with Aquaman for three years."
Mallory smiled in relief. She wasn't ashamed of how long she'd been a hero, she was only 14 after all, but it felt good to know that she wasn't expected to have a lifelong record.
"So, who exactly is your mentor?" Kid Flash asked. She couldn't tell if he was trying to make trouble or not, but he was succeeding either way.
"I don't officially have one. Actually, I'm not officially a hero."
Artemis leaned forward, intrigued.
"I, uh, work in Metropolis, mostly. I work with Superman, but I wouldn't call him my mentor, exactly."
She saw Superboy's face harden and felt a pang of sympathy for him. She'd never heard of him, never seen him in Metropolis, Superman had never mentioned him as a son or a sidekick.
"So, how long did you say you've been a‒vigilante?" Robin asked. Something in his tone led her to believe that he already knew the answer.
"Five years, give or take a month or two," she replied.
"Forgive me, but you seem somewhat young to have been fighting crime so long," Aqualad commented.
"I started when I was 10, and I'll be 15 in another month and a half, so yeah, almost exactly five years," she said, then shut her mouth, feeling like she'd been rambling.
Robin and Artemis smiled, but the others looked somewhat disapproving. Well, except for Superboy, who was sulking.
"What are your powers?" Artemis asked.
Mallory held out her hand palm up and concentrated. A fiery figure of the archer, bow and all, stood in her hand and she smiled in satisfaction.
"Cool," Kid Flash said.
"So that's what Batman meant by 'abilities' SB didn't have," Robin said, air quoting the word 'abilities'.
"Drop zone A approaching," Miss Martian announced, eying the fire in Mallory's hand warily.
Mallory closed her fist and watched Kid Flash stand up and his seat melt back into the floor. Two seconds later a hole opened in the floor and the plane stopped. He was gone in the blink of an eye, running down a tree. A few seconds later, Kid Flash's voice came into her head, saying that the heat and motion sensors were patched. Mallory touched the side of her head, feeling the team's presence in it. It was kind of unnerving, having strangers in your mind.
"All right, Drop zone B," Miss Martian said in the link.
The plane stopped and hovered above the trees. Hooks came from the ceiling and everyone attached them to their belts, then the squishy material lowered them to the ground. Kid flash zoomed up a second later.
"It's crazy over there. I barely got in," he said.
"Did you make sure none of the cameras saw you? Lex has cameras that can see extreme speeds," Mallory asked.
"Yeah, but how do you know about Lex?" he asked.
"I'm from Metropolis" was all the explanation she gave.
"Ok, Inferno, you're up," Robin said. Mallory smiled at the name and started walking through the woods, keeping a lookout for hidden cameras. She didn't dare fly, it would be a dead giveaway.
When she reached the location, she planted her feet firmly on the ground and closed her eyes, concentrating. She made fire come on both hands, then put them together and started spraying fire out like water in a hose. She doused the shrubbery, the trees, plants, everything.
Once the area was flaming, she flew to the top of a burning tree to watch the guards. Several were just noticing the fire. There was indistinct shouting, and soon more guards came pouring out of the building with hoses and fire extinguishers.
"I think enough of them are coming. But be careful," she told the team over the mind link.
"Acknowledged, we will proceed with caution," Aqualad replied.
Mallory tried to keep her mind blank, not knowing how much would be heard by the others. She watched carefully as the guards fought the fire, but their efforts only seemed to make the flames grow.
"How's it coming?" She asked a few minutes later. Keeping a fire of this size going with taxing, and the pain was starting to come.
"About halfway done," Robin said.
"Hey, I have a squad of guards going your way," Artemis announced.
"Inferno, how's the fire going?" Kid flash asked.
Mallory looked over the fire. The guards were making some progress with it.
"I'll make it bigger," she said. She shut her eyes against the pain starting to take hold and moved her hands away from her body. She cracked an eye open to see if it worked. She smiled with satisfaction when she saw that the fire was slowly creeping towards the building. Several guards started shouting into comms and a few minutes later more guards came out to assist.
Suddenly, the flaming limb she was perched on gave way with a sickening crack. she was falling through the air and a surprise yelp escaped her lips before she caught herself mid-air with flight. But the new use of her powers pushed the pain over the edge and the yelp turned to a scream of agony.
She tried to find a branch to sit on, but they were all too compromised to hold her weight. She was in tears now, her arms shaking with the effort of keeping her in flight. Despite the risk, she landed on the ground in the middle of the fire and hugged her knees to her chest, her eyes shut against the agonizing pain. She tried to control her labored breathing but it only served to intensify the pain.
"Inferno, what's going on?" Miss Martian asked, her voice urgent.
"Nothing," Mallory thought quickly.
"I can feel your pain," Miss Martian told her.
"We all can," Artemis said softly.
"I'm fine, how's it coming?"
"Almost done," Robin told her, his voice a little concerned, even over the mind link.
"Inferno, will your fire give us enough cover to leave undetected?" Aqualad asked.
Mallory looked around. She couldn't tell from the ground. The pain had gone down a little, but it still felt like every nerve of her body was, well, on fire.
"I need to get a bird's eye view," she told them. She sighed and stood. She could feel the pain mounting just thinking about using her powers, but she steeled herself against the pain and flew straight up. She hovered over the fire, still able to blend in with the very top should anyone look up. The guards were starting to get it under control. She slowly pulled a hand up and the flames leaped ten feet higher into the sky.
"It will now. I'll meet you guys at the plane," she said, and started flying as fast as she could towards their landing site, needing to get there before she blacked out from the pain.
The team was almost out of the building when Miss Martian stopped suddenly and pulled her hands to her head, closing her eyes.
"I lost inferno," she told the team, "and she was in so much pain before she dropped out of the link. Something must have happened. We need to hurry."
The team didn't need to be told twice. Kid flash ran ahead.
When he got to the bioship, he saw Inferno lying unconscious about 200 feet from the ship. He stooped over her and checked her pulse nervously. It was strong, just a little irregular. He touched your shoulder gently.
"Hey, come on, wake up, " he pleaded, keeping his voice low and soft. He rolled her onto her back. "Inferno," he said, feeling weird calling her by her super name in this scenario but not knowing her real name, "come on, wake up."
He shook her again and this time her eyelids twitched, then fluttered open. Her eyes were red, and wild with pain.
"Hey," he said softly, not wanting to alarm her.
"Where am I?"
Mallory tried to sit up, but any pressure or movement sent shooting pains through her whole body. Her breath caught in her throat and she laid there, gritting her teeth, tears trailing paths through the soot and ash covering her face. Kid flash watched helplessly as she battled the pain. Finally, her ragged breathing slowed again and she seemed to be in considerably less pain.
"What hurts?" he asked.
"Everything," she muttered, taking a shallow breath. Kid Flash's face showed concerned.
"We need to get you back to the cave. The medbay is equipped to handle any kind of injury," he told her. She laughed humorously, bringing on more stabbing pains.
"Never mind. The pain goes with my powers. I pushed myself too hard keeping that fire going, that's all."
Kid flash looked at her curiously. "If your power hurts you, why do you use it?" he asked.
"Because if I don't, I'll explode," she said. He cocked his head to the side and she sighed.
"Too much either way is bad. If I use my powers too much, pain. If I don't use them enough, anger, tension, and eventually loss of control. There's a medium in there that I need to hit. I just went too far today. " He nodded, seeming to understand.
"Do you think you can make it to the bioship?" he asked.
Mallory tried to push herself up but sucked in a quick breath as her body screamed for her to stop. Kid flash didn't miss a beat. He scooped her up in his arms, surprisingly strong for a teenager, and carried her to the bioship bridal style.
"Thanks," she said quietly, slightly embarrassed.
"No problem," he replied with an easy smile. "The team is almost here."
Mallory fell asleep before they got to the bioship, lulled to sleep by the combination of her own exhaustion, the rocking of Kid Flash's steps, and the safe feeling of his arms.