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Wally struggled to get out of the restraints. The ropes tightened as he tried to loosen them. Mallory's screams cut him to the quick. He felt every shock like it was coursing through his own body. He watched her body convulse with every shock, then shudder when the shocks would end. His anger burned within him with an intensity that he'd never felt.
He looked down at Robin. He couldn't believe that the Boy Wonder was dead. Sure, there he was, lying not five feet away, but he'd known Dick since they were kids, and if there was one thing he knew about him, it was that he always knew what he was doing.
Mallory let out another excruciating scream, and Wally jerked his attention back to her. He tried to pull out of his restraints again, straining to get to her. He was furious with Robin for getting them in this mess, and yet he couldn't be mad at him because he might be dead, and he was furious with Mallory for not escaping when she had the chance, and yet he couldn't be mad at her because she was being tortured.
Just when Wally was starting to fear that Mallory might not be able to take it anymore, Kobra asked, "is she ready?"
Cas stopped and looked at her. "I believe so, oh exalted one." Kobra started saying some strange incantation, and Cas got ready to send another shock at Mallory.
"Hey, Kobby," Wally yelled, fear seeping into every crevice of his being. He couldn't lose Mallory. She was like the sister he'd never had, and he'd promised himself he would protect her since the night of their first mission. "What's the matter, you afraid to do your own dirty work? I mean, come on. If we're going to get killed, it's just rude to have your goons do it. What happened to the hospitality you showed Sportsmaster? Your minions are so stupid, they probablly don't even know how to use their weapons, if they follow a madman no better than the Joker." He'd hoped that taunting Kobra would draw the attention to himself and away from Mallory, but Kobra barely batted an eye.
"Gag him," he commanded calmly.
"No! Get your hands off me!" Wally yelled as he struggled against the guards trying to tie the cloth around his mouth. He saw Mallory staring at him and caught her eye. She looked exhausted and hopeless. Before he could do anything, Kobra continued reading the incantation and Cas flipped the switch. Mallory shut her eyes against the pain and Wally was forced to watch her body thrash around painfully on the table. Then, her body went still and Cas stopped the shock.
Wally craned his neck, fighting panic as he silently begged her to take a breath. The whole room seemed to lean forward, waiting for something to happen. Then, her eyes snapped open, and Wally could just barely make out the fire-red color in them.
Some guards started to take a few steps forward, then Mallory suddenly flamed up, burning through her restraints. She soared into the air, and an enormous flaming cobra appeared behind her, it's head reared to strike. Wally stared at it nervously, not knowing if it was Mallory or the goddess controlling his friend's body. She sort of looked around the still room, breathing heavily. When Wally looked into her eyes, there were actual flames coming out.
Someone moved, took just a half a step back, and the snake attacked. It went around the room, ramming people, hitting them with its tail, biting at them. Wally kept his eyes trained on Mallory's face. He knew she was controlling it, and she wouldn't kill. He was sure of that.
Mallory felt herself rise up to Kobra's level with great speed, fury fueling her flames. She stopped two inches away from him. He was smiling, his arms crossed calmly across his chest.
"Ah, great Wadjet. You must be wondering why I have called you into this mortal form," Kobra said. Mallory narrowed her eyes. She could feel the flames leaping out of them.
"I would have you rule beside me when we conquer the world," Kobra continued.
Mallory could feel three weeks of built up anger rising to the surface. She raised her arms and the fire cobra reared its head. She was about to send it at the madman in front of her when Kid Flash yelled, "Inferno, no!"
Hearing Wally's voice cleared her head and she looked down at him. He had the gag hanging around his neck, and he was shaking his head, his eyes fearful and worried. She looked at Kobra, and at the snake she'd created, and at her raised arms. She lowered her arms in horror as she realized what she'd almost done.
Kobra raised his eyebrows. "Inferno? So, Havu, you dared to betray a god? You will pay dearly for that."
Mallory snapped her attention back to him. "No, you will," she said, and sent the cobra at him.
"No!" Wally yelled.
Mallory lifted a hand and the snake turned into a fire jail, with an unscathed Kobra inside it. She almost laughed at the relief on Wally's face.
"Wow, you have no faith in me," she said with a small smile. He let the tension out of his shoulders and returned it.
Then, a shock hit Mallory in the back and she cried out and fell to the ground. Cas was standing over her with some sort of gun in his hands. Mallory scrambled to her feet and raised her hands to the ready. Cas raised an eyebrow and tossed the gun to the side. Mallory closed her fists and struck a fighting pose, ready to finally return the 'favors' Cas had dealt her in the past few days. He charged her and Mallory hopped out of the way. It had been a while since she'd been able to fight with her full ability, and she was looking forward to it.
"How could you betray the brotherhood, Havu?" Cas asked, dodging a punch.
"Are you really that slow? I was never a part of it," she replied, trying to swipe his legs out from under him.
"After everything we've done for you. We took you in, trained you, gave you the chance to be part of something greater than you."
"Yeah, well, you're a little late, I'm already a part of something bigger than me. And you tried to give my body to some random spirit. No, thanks."
Cas managed to get her off her balance and shoved her to the ground, sticking a knee into her back. "You will regret this decision, sister," he practically hissed in her ear, then he grinned and added, "well, at least you put up more of a fight than your friend over there. The bat would have been so disappointed in him."
Mallory's eyes flew open and the grief and anger took over. She let out a primal yell and shoved herself up. She lit into him, throwing punches and kicks so fast Cas could barely keep up with blocking her. She had him down and pinned in just a few minutes, but it didn't register. She kept punching him, barely even knowing what she was doing. He killed Robin, he tortured her, he was responsible for ruining countless lives, and she couldn't let him get away with that.
Someone grabbed her arm and she spun around, ready to fight anything that stood in her way. She came face to face with Wally, his face grim.
"He's down, you won," Wally told her. She looked back at Cas and saw that he was knocked out and most of his face was bruised and bleeding. Fear gripped her and she backed away from him.
"It's all right. We won," Wally said, pulling her into a hug. She let a safe feeling seep into her, then pushed away from him.
"It's not ok! Robin's dead! How did you get out of the collar?" Wally stepped to the side to show Mallory that the rest of the team was standing just a few feet away. Zatanna stepped over to her and hugged her.
"We stick together. We started looking for you pretty much as soon as you told me to go back to the ship."
Mallory smiled a little, then looked over at Robin. She walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Robin!" Megan exclaimed, and Artemis ran and knelt beside Mallory.
"He has a heartbeat," Conner said, letting out a breath.
Mallory almost choked on the relief that flowed through her.
"Let's get him back to the ship," Artemis said. Conner picked up the boy wonder and the team started leaving. When they were at the doorway, Mallory paused and turned around.
"Inferno, you coming?" Wally asked.
"I'm right behind you, I just have to do something."
Wally hesitated, not wanting to leave her alone.
"Go, I just need to get Cas and Kobra. I'll bring them to the ship. We can't leave them here."
He nodded and followed the rest of the team as they ran out the room. Mallory started walking to Kobra's jail. He was still calm.
"Move," Mallory told him, making the jail move towards Cas. Kobra walked along quietly. Mallory collected all of the cult members in the jail and sent it moving out the door, then turned back to the room. She sent flames at the machine and stayed long enough to know that it wouldn't be salvageable, then hurried after her prisoners.
When they got outside, the bioship was waiting. The team took charge of the prisoners and Mallory put out the fire. She walked over to where Conner and Megan were standing together.
"How's Robin?" she asked.
"He's still out, but his heartbeat's steady," Conner replied.
Mallory nodded and turned her attention back to the base. "We still don't know what Kobra's plan was. We can't leave the base alone when it might be the key to his plan."
Megan and Conner exchanged a glance. "Well, we can't just stay here. We have prisoners, and we need to get Robin to the medbay," Megan pointed out.
Mallory looked at them. "I could…" she opened a hand, producing a fireball.
"No, the League will want to go through the place. Batman can hack into security feeds or something," Conner said.
Mallory closed her fist reluctantly. She would have liked to see the place in ruins. They went onto the bioship and took their seats, settling in for a long flight.
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