Well, Gar is finally coming into the story! I love Beast Boy in young justice, how he took Wally's place as the comic relief and Robin's place as the little brother of the group. When I gave Mallory a little brother, I knew he and Gar would have to be friends, so this chapter was a lot of fun to write. I hope you like the chapter, and I would love to get a review on it.
When the green boy appeared in the zeta tube next to Megan, Peter squinted his eyes at him curiously. Garfield walked over to him and said, "Hey! I'm Gar. Who are you?"
"I'm Peter. Why are you green?" Peter replied.
"I got a blood transfusion from a Martian," Gar explained with a grin.
"Cool. So if I got one, I'd be like you?" Peter asked.
"Well, yeah, but I wouldn't recommend it. I can't turn back to a normal color."
"So what?! You can turn into stuff, right?"
Gar turned into a monkey as an answer, and Peter's grin couldn't have been wider. "You should stay like that all the time," Peter told him.
Gar turned back to his normal form and laughed. "Why would I do that?"
The boys went off to the living area and Mallory went to stand by Megan, who had stayed by the zeta tubes. "Well, looks like they hit it off," she commented.
"I'm glad. Gar doesn't know a lot of people his age." They watched as the boys settled on the sofa and started playing a video game that Mallory and Zatanna had left up.
"Want to spar?" Mallory asked. Megan shrugged and they went to the training room.
After only three days, the team realized that having two younger boys in the cave at the same time might not be such a good idea. They booby trapped the zeta tubes, making syrup and feathers cover anyone who came in through the affected tube, they would prank everyone relentlessly, and Peter was now more than ever determined that he would find a way to become a superhero, and Gar was right there at his side to help.
Batman had been avoiding the cave, not wanting to interact with the boys, but now the other Leagues had cut their visits down as well. Canary only came through doors instead of the zeta tubes, and she only came because she had to train the team.
Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, Mallory and Megan decided to sit their charges down to have a talk. Unfortunately, the boys had other plans. Gar turned into a bird and flew around out of their reach, and Peter made use of the skills Robin had taught him and very effectively disappeared.
After looking for him for twenty minutes, Mallory called it. She flopped onto the sofa, exhausted from climbing the walls and crawling through the vents. Kara and Brainy came from the rooms and started walking to the zeta tubes and Mallory jumped to her feet.
"Hey, Kara!"
Kara turned around. "Yeah?" she asked.
"Peter's hiding somewhere and Gar is eluding Megan. Would you mind, you know, looking through the walls and stuff and see if you can find him?"
"Oh, sure," she replied, and she did a quick sweep of the cave. "He's in the grotto," she said.
"We have a grotto?" Mallory asked.
"Oh, sure. I'll show you." She led the way down to the bottom level of the cave and showed her a door that slid open to reveal stone steps that led down into darkness. Malory made a fire in her hand and led the way down.
"Peter?" she called. "I know you're in here. Come on, it's almost time to eat."
"I'm stuck," Peter called from somewhere above them. Mallory flamed up and she and Kara flew up towards the sound, Mallory's fire lighting up the room and making shadows dance across the walls. They found him on a shelf of rock halfway up the wall.
"How did you even get up there?" she asked.
"I climbed," he said, gesturing to the rough wall. Kara gathered him in her arms and the three of them descended. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Peter started running, but Mallory grabbed the back of his shirt.
"Hey, go upstairs to the kitchen and I'll fix you a snack," she told him. He nodded and scampered off. Mallory looked around the grotto. It was big, really big, and completely empty.
"Why is this here? And how did you know about it?" Mallory asked.
"I was in the League, remember? I remember when they built this place. The grotto was already here, and Batman thought he might make it into a second Batcave, but the other Leaguers didn't like the idea of him being in the mountain so much, so Bats kept his cave in Gotham."
"Huh," Mallory muttered, trying to picture what the team could use it for. Kara started flying for the door, and Mallory followed her on foot. Peter was sitting at the counter, waiting for the food.
"Well, I'm gonna go. Brainy and I are going to Metropolis for a date." She and Brainy zetaed away, and Mallory went to the kitchen and leaned against the counter facing Peter.
"Don't go down there anymore, all right? I don't think it's safe, and with it being so dark you could easily run into something or trip and get hurt."
"Fine," Peter grumbled. "Can we have brownies?"
"I'm not done," Mallory said. "You and Gar need to stop with the pranks and the traps."
Peter giggled.
"I'm serious. If I find one more trap or you prank one more person, I'm bringing you home and you aren't going to be staying at the cave overnight anymore. And, I might decide that you and Gar aren't good for each other and not let you visit him."
Peter stared at her in shock. "But you can't do that!" he cried.
"Yes, I can. This is my place, I don't have to let you come here. So, are you going to be good for the rest of the week, or do you want to have to crawl under the furniture to get to your room every night?"
Peter heaved a dramatic sigh. "Fine, we won't set any more traps," he said.
Malory smiled and ruffled his hair. "Good. Now, I think we might still have some brownies from yesterday. I mean, we should. Wally hasn't been here since Megan made them." She went through the cupboards and pulled out a sealed jar full of brownies just as Megan and Gar came in.
"Peter agreed to stop with the pranks," Mallory informed her, giving each of the boys a plate with a brownie on it.
Megan pulled out the milk and poured them each a glass. "So did Gar. Maybe the rest of the week will go smoothly."
"Recognized, Superman, 01," the computer said, and Mallory and Megan turned to see the man of steel appear in the zeta tube.
"Hey, Torch. Megan," he said, and he took a step towards them.
Mallory noticed the trip wire too late to warn him, and before he knew what had happened a can of paint that had been balancing on a rafter tipped and dumped bright green paint all over him. The boys burst out laughing, and Megan glared at them.
Mallory stood there, staring at her mentor, adrenaline pumping and her heart pounding in shock. Superman wiped the paint away from his eyes and glanced at her with a look of surprise and discomfort. In that moment, she felt the laughter rising in her, and she covered her mouth with her hand and turned towards the wall.
No matter how good the boys promised to be, they would always be a chaotic duo.