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Two weeks later, the team was gathered in the training room, waiting for Batman to explain their next mission.
"The League suspects that Roulette has set up another fighting club in Coast City. The League would handle it, but we have to be sure that there is illegal activity going on, and she'd recognize all of the League members who would give a convincing enough performance. I'm sending you in undercover to see what's going on." He looked at the line in front of him, his eyes landing on Wren and Robin. "This might be a good chance for the newer members to get a real feel for working with the team."
He dismissed them, and they went to the living room to talk the mission over.
"Gar and Lagaan are on the bioship. Who wants to join them?" Dick asked.
The girls shook their heads, and Gar gave them a look. "Oh, come on," he said, and Lagaan said, "Hey, Angelfish, you don't want to join the green team?"
Dick shook his head. "No, with her shapeshifting abilities she's a good asset to have in there."
"Well, maybe we should pair up. We can't go in together anyway," Zatanna suggested.
"Ok. Megan and Mallory can go in with Conner, Z and Raquel can go in together, and I'll take Rob and Wren with me."
"So we don't get the pleasure of having any more of you in the bioship with us after all?" Lagaan asked sarcastically.
"Nope, doesn't look like it," Mallory said cheerfully.
They went to their rooms to start getting ready. Mallory pulled out an emerald green backless dress and laid it out on the bed, then started getting ready. She left her hair red and straightened it, put on a lot of makeup, added some teardrop earrings and a silver necklace with a synthetic diamond on it. The process of getting ready took nearly two hours, and by the time she stepped out of her room, Raquel was coming out of her own. She'd put on a wig that gave her an afro, and she, too, had laid on enough makeup to age her at least five years. Her dress was navy blue and had slits across the front that looked like claw marks, and a long slit up the leg.
"You look good," Mallory said.
"Thanks, girl, so do you," Raquel replied.
Zatanna and Megan came out of their rooms in pajamas and glanced at the other two girls. "Oh, it's time to go already?" Zatanna asked.
Raquel crossed her arms and jutted her hip out, one eyebrow raised, and Mallory narrowed her eyes as Megan shapeshifted into a purple dress with a V that went all the way down to her belly button, and Zatanna muttered a spell and came out in a red dress with the straps hanging down her shoulders, her black hair pulled up in a bun.
"Really?" Raquel said.
Zatanna fought a grin and Megan turned away. Mallory shook her head and she and Raquel followed the other girls to the training room. Wren and the boys were already in the training room, and Mallory wondered how the girl had gotten ready so fast. She had on an ice blue dress, and all three of the bats were wearing dark glasses. Mallory couldn't help but chuckle at seeing Conner in a tux.
"All right, partner up. Mallory and Megan with Conner, Z and Raquel together."
"Actually, we're making a slight change to the roster," Raquel said, and Mallory put an arm on Raquel's shoulder and nodded. "Yeah, we've decided that after the major insult we suffered just now, we can't work with these two, so we're gonna go together, and Conner can have Zatanna," she said.
Robin smirked, and Dick sighed and nodded. "Fine, whatever. Let's go."
Raquel offered Mallory her arm, and Mallory wove hers through her friends. "Thank you. Glad I can count on you not to stab me in the back," she said, playfully glaring at Zatanna and Megan as they brushed past them. They heard the other girls laughing as they made their way to the hangar.
"Keep a sharp eye out. Don't forget, you're rich, so act like it," Dick said on the link.
Mallory walked into the club arm in arm with Raquel, and they waited for the bouncer to check his list. "La'Shay Denis and Danielle Parkins," Raquel told him. He found the names and nodded.
"You know, it's fun being rich for a change," Raquel said.
"Yeah, well, just remember, it comes with its fair share of problems," Dick said.
They saw him and his siblings across the room finding their seats and Mallory said, "You aren't really gonna call your case the usual, are you?"
"Will you stop complaining about how poor you are already?" Robin snapped.
Mallory looked at Raquel. "La'Shay, where do you want to sit?" she asked.
Raquel smiled and narrowed her eyes. "I want fifth row center. Bane's fighting Atomic Skull, and I don't want to miss a single punch."
"I think you're overdoing it a little," Mallory said.
"You think?" she asked. Mallory nodded, her eyes twinkling with amusement as they found their seats and looked at the screens built into the chairs, ready and waiting to take bets.
"Ok, so at what point can we just go ahead and call this illegal and call it a night?" Zatanna asked.
"Let's give it a couple of hours. Good booze, a rich crowd that deserves to lose a few bracelets, a couple of supervillains getting taken out of commision without us being involved, it sounds like a good time to me," Wren said.
"Wren, we're not stealing anything, and give me that glass, when did you even have time to order it? Geez, Batman'll skin me alive if I bring you home drunk. You're 14, for Christ's sake."
Mallory chuckled at the Big Brother tone he was using.
"Hey, we're just trying to fit in," Robin said, and Nightwing said, "Robin, give me the glass. Seriously, when did you two have time to grab drinks? You've been with me the whole time!"
"Oh, Nightwing, it sounds like you're losing your touch," Raquel said.
The team quieted down as the audience lights dimmed and the arena lit up. Roulette was raised onto the stage on a metal plate, and she looked over the crowd and smiled. "Ladies, gentlemen, it's good to see so many familiar faces in the crowd tonight. Now, I don't want to take up any of your time, so I'll get right to our introductions. At this corner, we have Bane, the magnificent strongman, and on this side we have the terrifying Atomic Skull. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen, and our contestants will come out fighting!" The screens on their chairs lit up and the team started putting in the card information they'd been given.
"Hey, anyone want to make a side bet? I'll put $200 on Bane," Robin said.
"I'll take some of that action," Lagaan said.
"Guys, focus," Dick said.
"Oh, I am. I intend to make a little money on this guy for once," Robin replied.
"Eh, I don't know. Bane's pretty easy to take out if you know how and you can catch him off guard. I think I'll take Atomic Skull. I've never fought him before, but he doesn't look like he has an obvious weakness," Wren said.
"Fine, I'll bet you two sick days and an etiquette class that Bane can beat Skull," Robin said.
"You're on," Wren replied.
"Guys, you do realize that we're not supposed to let this fight finish, right?" Dick asked.
"Oh, come on, Wing. We never get to have any fun," Wren said.
Mallory thought Dick was going to argue the point with them, but he seemed to remember that they were on the link and he sighed instead.
"Just stay alert," he said.
The two supervillains came out of their separate corners and started to fight. Mallory had to admit, it was a little satisfying to see two people that she'd been up against in the past duking it out with each other instead of with her or the team.
"Ok, we should call in the League now," Dick said. Mallory saw him reach to touch the signal on his watch, but Robin bumped his hand, and he pressed another button instead. An alarm went off in the club, and the fight stopped immediately, with the contestants being dropped into the floor. Roulette came on a screen, a death glare on her face as she looked at the audience.
"Someone just made a call to the police from the audience. Well, we can't have that, now, can we. If you'll all just stay put, my men are screening the call right now. We'll have a location on them in a moment."
Mallory saw Dick's fingers subtly flying over a small keyboard as he tried to hack into the system.
"I can't cover the signal," he said, his voice a little panicky.
"We're on our way," Lagaan said.
"Lagaan, no, you and Gar stay put," Dick said, but it was too late. The next second, the back doors were thrown open by Gar's rhino form and Lagaan came running in. They charged into a group of bouncers, and then Robin and Wren were standing in their chairs. Robin already had his utility belt slung across his body, and Wren was clipping hers into place. She took a birdarang and sliced through the bottom half of her dress, freeing her legs, and the two of them joined the fray. Dick watched in disbelief as the four younger members fought the goons, the elite scrambling to get out of the building before the police arrived.
"Um, are we gonna help, or what?" Zatanna asked.
"Yeah, I guess," Dick said, his voice heavy. "But we need to organize. They're Alpha Squad, they're taking all the attention anyway. Beta squad, Mallory, Conner, Rocket, and Zatanna, give them a hand, and trash this place. I don't want anything left that they can use. Gamma squad's me and Megan. We'll sneak around and try to find Roulette. Don't get caught."
The team nodded, and Mallory sighed. "I guess we didn't think these dresses through," she said. Rocket shook her head, and they started towards the top of the stairs. More goons were coming towards Alpha, so they started taking them out. They heard Zatanna's voice echoing through the hall, and they looked over and saw her and Conner in their supersuits.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding," Mallory muttered.
Rocket laughed and flew up. "Glad I remembered my belt," she said. Mallory sighed and lit her eyes up, shooting some flames at the seats. They backed up until they were fighting with Alpha.
They fought back to back for a while, then Mallory suddenly felt a crushing weight drag her off the top platform and they tumbled painfully down the steps. When they stopped, she managed to look behind her long enough to recognize the knife in the goon's hand. She grunted and tried to push herself up, but the guy had her in a death grip.
"Inferno!" Rocket exclaimed.
Mallory lit her eyes on fire, steadily increasing her body heat until the goon was forced to roll off of her, then she shoved him off the row they'd landed on. He fell down a couple of rows of seats before getting caught on the back of a chair and stopping. She flamed up and flew to the top, trying to understand what had happened. She saw that Wren and Robin were a little ways away, leading more goons towards them, and Lagaan had ducked out of the way of the goon that had charged without giving her or Rocket a warning. She landed in front of the Atlantean, flames leaping out of her eyes as she confronted the green boy.
"We have the link for a reason, and it's not to place bets on a mission," she growled, her hands shaking with rage as she thought about what could have happened, to her or Rocket.
Raquel grabbed her arm and jerked her away from the wide-eyed boy, forcing her to look at her. "Now's not the time," she said, nodding to the small army coming towards them.
Mallory took a calming breath and nodded once, giving Lagoon Boy one last glare before turning back to the fight. She kept her guard up after that, no longer blindly trusting the new members of the team. That realization fueled her anger as she fought, knowing that after that, she couldn't afford to turn her back on her own teammates, and knowing that no matter how much she didn't want to believe it, the old days of the whole team being a family and being able to trust each other with their lives were over.
It took over two hours to finally get the situation with the club settled, and it took the intervention of both the police and the Justice League. By the time they got back to the cave, Mallory's whole body was shaking with pent-up anger, and the second the Atlantean was in the training room, she slammed her hands into his chest, pushing him against the wall, and she pinned him there with her forearm, her eyes blazing red as she glared at him. The Team and League alike froze at the sudden and unusual show of violence towards a teammate.
"You almost got me killed. If it had been someone else standing there and not me, you really might have," she yelled, her voice shaking as she thought about losing another teammate. But it wasn't tears that she felt rising to the surface. It was pure, blinding rage, and she pressed her arm tighter against his chest, not even realizing that she was slipping into her superstrength.
"Inferno!" Superman said, and when she didn't respond, he grabbed her arms and dragged her away.
Lagaan doubled over, catching his breath and rubbing his chest. "It wasn't my fault!" he said when he could breathe normally again.
"No, you're right, it wasn't entirely your fault. All you did was jump in when you shouldn't have and disregard an order. Robin's the one that didn't want to call in the League just so he could see his bet finish out. He's the one that made Nightwing call the cops instead of the League," Raquel yelled, backing Mallory up.
"That was an accident. What, you think I wanted the night to turn out like that?" Robin yelled, standing up to the older members. Wren was a few inches behind him, her face calm, but her body language saying that she was ready for a fight.
"Yeah, we do. Your immaturity could have gotten someone killed tonight, and it broke the trust of the team!" Mallory yelled.
"ENOUGH!" Batman said, and everyone stopped and looked at him. Mallory jerked her arms out of Clark's hands and moved to stand with Zatanna and Raquel. "Obviously the mission didn't go as planned, but fighting amongst yourselves is not the answer. All that does is show me that you can't work together. You will, though. I'm assigning you one simulation a day, on top of training, until you can prove to me that you can work together. Nightwing, you can debrief, the rest of you, hit the showers."
The team stalked towards their rooms, a noticeable divide in them. As Mallory washed the layers of makeup off and peeled off her scorched dress, she couldn't get the glare off her face. By the time she'd put on a tank top and shorts, her mind was made up. She left her room and knocked on Zatanna's door.
"Who is it?" the magician asked.
"it's me," she replied.
"Come on in," she said, and Mallory practically punched the button. The doors slid open and she was greeted by Raquel and Zatanna in t-shirts and leggings sitting on the magician's bed.
"Let me guess, you're here to find out just how fed up we are, right?" Raquel asked.
"Artemis was right. We don't have any secrets anymore," Mallory said, but she was too mad to say it as a joke.
"This'll kill Dick," Zatanna said softly.
Mallory shook her head. "He'll get over it. He has to. I can't stay on a team that I can't trust my teammates."
"Who's gonna tell him?" Zatanna asked.
"I will. He knows I'm not going to change my mind once it's made up," Mallory said.
Zatanna nodded, and Raquel looked between them. "So, we're really doing this?" she asked.
Mallory froze for a fraction of a second, the last four years flashing before her eyes, before nodding grimly.
"We can tell them tomorrow that we're joining the League."
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