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The next day, Mallory got ready as usual. She brushed her hair and tied it up with some string, put on her mask and robe, and made sure that her comm was secure in the pocket of her robe. The realization of the dangers of trying to sneak out of the base hit her full force, and she reached up to touch her necklace, only to have her fingers brush against the coarse fabric of the robe. She winced when she remembered that she'd lost it and stared at herself in the mirror.
She had bruises and cuts on her face, neck, chest, and arms. Her hair was still black, not even dulled for the time that had passed, and between the mask and the robe she could barely recognize herself. She sighed. She would be glad to get out of there and go home to her familiar room at the cave and the normal missions and training. She shook her head and turned away. She needed to be focused for this. She couldn't afford to be distracted by her homesickness.
The hours passed slowly. As evening started to fall, Mallory could feel that something was off. The guards changed posts at their normal time, but more had come to stand at her door than usual, and armed to the teeth with guns and knives. There was distant shouting that she couldn't make out. Her stomach clenched as stress started to knot up inside of her. She tried to get in touch with the team to check on things, but Megan had shut the link down to get ready for their escape. Mallory paced her small room anxiously for another hour before she heard footsteps outside her door. They were too heavy to be any of the team's. She stopped in her tracks and watched as the door opened. Cas stood there with a grave face.
"Come, sister," he said.
Mallory followed him nervously. As she was closing her door, Megan reached out to her.
"Mallory? Are you there?" she asked, fear obvious in her voice.
"I'm here. What's going on?"
"I can't get in touch with anyone else, and I've been trying for half an hour. I even flew closer to the base, but I can't find them."
"Cas just came to get me. Something's definitely wrong," Mallory told her, looking around the hall. There were too many guards lining the walls, keeping a watchful eye on her.
"Well, play along until we know what's happening. We need to find the rest of the team before we pull out," Conner said.
"And by we, you mean the only one of us left on the inside," Mallory said irritably.
"It's just for a little longer. Megan's going to try to get closer," Artemis said.
"Don't get too close. We don't need another person disappearing," Mallory told them. She and Cas started going down a hall that declined steeply.
"All right. Stay on the link, though, so-" the link cut off and Mallory frantically called out to Megan, but to no avail.
She looked around her, seeing earthen walls and floors. Cas and four guards walked along with her, keeping her from escaping or being rescued. She sighed nervously. She was in too deep. Literally.
They got to the end of the hall and put her in a room no bigger than a closet, then left. She waited a moment, then slipped the comm in her ear and pressed the button.
"Anyone there? Kf? Z? Rob, come in!" she said, keeping her voice low.
"I'm here, what's up?" Zatanna asked.
"Have you seen KF or Rob today? Megan can't find any of you, and the cult moves up their timetable. The ritual, it's happening tonight."
"I haven't seen them, but the guards get thicker going down. I slipped away, but maybe the others couldn't."
"Where are you?" Mallory asked.
"I'm on the way to the top level. I'll go back down and see if I can find the guys," Zatanna said.
"No! Get out of here. If you're on the top levels, Megan should be able to get in touch with you. Go wait on the bioship."
"What about the rest of you? I can't leave you behind!"
"Zatanna, go. I'll try to find them and get out of here, but you need to go wait with the rest of the team in case we need backup."
There was a long pause, then Zatanna sighed and said, "all right, but be careful, Inferno."
Her comm clicked off and Mallory paced the room, which was only about two steps each way. Only a few minutes went by before Cas opened her door and brought her to a huge room packed with guards.
"What's going on?" Mallory asked. Kobra was looking down on her from a platform, and there was a huge machine in the middle of the room with a table at the center.
"Our base was breached. We must move quickly before more heroes show up."
"Heroes?" Mallory asked, a pit in her stomach.
"Robin and Kid Flash," Cas told her, hate in his voice.
Mallory looked at him, wondering if he knew who she was. The way he looked at her, his eyes blazing with the purest form of hate, said that he did.
She must have slipped and shown her thoughts on her face, because Cas leaned down and whispered, "yes, sister, I know your secret. I don't know why you've decided to betray the brotherhood, but I know that you were their way in. Kobra has decided to grant you the honor of going through with the ritual. For that, you should be forever grateful to him."
Mallory knew she should do something, but all she could do was stare at him.
"Oh, well, how rude of me. I forgot to show you your friends." He waved a hand and Wally and Robin were brought in. Well, Wally was brought in, fighting the whole way. Robin was dragged in, his limp body pale, and dumped in a heap beside the speedster. He wasn't breathing.
"No, no, no,no," Mallory murmured, alarm ripping through her chest.
Cas grabbed her upper arm tight and started to drag her to the table. She didn't fight him, she couldn't tear her eyes off Robin's body long enough for her mind to make sense of the situation.
"Get your slimy hands off her!" Wally yelled, struggling against the restraints. He had an inhibitor collar on, and his hands and feet were tied besides.
When Mallory felt the cold metal of the table, she snapped out of her daze and tried to fight back, but Cas easily overpowered her.
She felt the tears prick behind her eyes as the shock started to wear off. Robin was dead. She took a breath as four guards started strapping her to the table. She could hear Wally still yelling at them to let her go, threatening to do his worst. Cas went to a computer and pressed a button. An electric charge went through her, and she screamed at the unexpected pain.
Robin's voice went through her head, telling her to play along, wait for them to get all the information they needed. Now she needed to wait for help. Help she knew wasn't coming because she'd told it to stay away. The tears streamed down her face from the physical and emotional pain. Robin dead, Wally captured. At least Zatanna had managed to get out. Or had she? Mallory had no way of knowing. The shock started again, and Mallory wrenched around, trying to get away from the pain and trying to fight back the fire at the same time.
"Is she ready?" Kobra asked. Cas looked at her, then at the machine.
"I believe so, oh exalted one."
Kobra started saying some incantation, and Wally started yelling something. She couldn't make it out.
"Gag him," Kobra commanded.
Wally struggled against the guards that came at him, but in the end they tied a cloth around his mouth and Kobra continued with the incantation. Mallory locked eyes with Wally for a second, his eyes holding anger, concern, and fear. Another shock hit her and she shut her eyes against the pain.
Images flashed through her mind. Peter finding out that she wasn't coming home, and Wally, just a few feet away, afraid for both of their lives, and Zatanna possibly captured, and the team waiting for them on the bioship, and Isaiah in Metropolis, possibly ready to end things with her, and Robin's body dropped so carelessly by the guards. Robin dead, Wally and possibly Zatanna captured, her about to be possessed by a goddess that would help Kobra take over the world.
She could feel her consciousness being pushed out of her body. No, she wouldn't let that happen. She fought, with everything she was, she fought the new presence for the use of her own body.
It felt like an eternity went by, but then she opened her eyes, glowing red, and flamed up. Her clothes and restraints burned off of her, the dye and string too. She wouldn't let Kobra take any more from her. She was going to fight, for herself, and the world, and for her family.